He Will Be Mine
by kingdomdisney
Summary: Drarry. Rated for future chapters. Draco has obsessed over Harry and pretended to hate him since their first year, but when he comes to a realization of his feelings and morals at the end of their fourth year, Draco will do anything, even defy his parents and the Dark Lord, to keep Harry safe.
1. Past, Present, Wishful Future

He really couldn't understand it.

When he was a first year, he didn't realize that the boy who fascinated him was The Boy Who Lived until told so. He just thought there was something different about him that he liked and wanted more of. He was eleven; he did not understand crushes and that homosexuality wasn't a bad thing. He'd only heard his father's words. And what his father had said was that if you insult people and appeal to others, that will get you far. So, of course, he assumed it would work on Harry Potter. When it backfired on him, he felt so incredibly hurt and humiliated, he felt glad for the distraction of Professor McGonagall.

After that, he took every opportunity he could to see Harry. It sucked that he had to pretend to hate him; he really just wanted to be Potter's friend. So, of course, he took every opportunity he could to see Harry, even if it meant breaking the rules.

He didn't like Weasley and Granger, honestly; he thought Weasley was a bad influence on Harry, and Granger was a stuck-up know-it-all Mudblood. He stopped using the word Mudblood eventually, but he still didn't like her. Harry was the only one of the trio who held any interest for him.

He secretly visited him whenever Harry was in the hospital wing. Dumbledore caught him their first year, just after Harry had gotten hold of the Philospher's Stone, and was supportive. That was the first time he ever found himself questioning his father. Dumbledore seemed like a good man.

He finally discovered what exactly he felt for the boy in their fourth year. When he found out that Harry and Cedric disappeared, he felt panic overcome him. The only thoughts inside his head were _Oh, my god, please let him be alright_ and _Don't let him die_ and _Bring him back to me, oh dear God!_ He had to steady himself on Crabbe and Goyle because of the ferocity of his thoughts. They gave him weird looks, but he paid no attention to them.

He finally realized he was desperately in love with Harry James Potter.

_Oh, bloody hell_, he thought. Why him, of all people. And why a boy?!

Nevertheless, he found himself extremely relieved when Harry came back, albeit with a dead Cedric. Draco didn't care for Cedric; he kept his eyes on Harry the entire time, watched him sob and cry out that the Dark Lord was back. That alone caused him worry; if You-Know-Who was back, he'd want Harry dead.

Draco didn't want Harry dead.

And he was going to make sure Harry didn't die.

And maybe fall in love with him, but Draco didn't want to get his hopes up. He was pretty sure Harry was straight. But he would damn well try his hardest.

He went to Dumbledore very late that night. Barty Crouch, Jr. hadn't been dealt with yet, so Draco did his best to avoid him. Dumbledore was, to say the least, shocked.

"Hello, Draco," he greeted as he peered over his glasses. "And what brings you to my office?"

Draco glowered down at the floor before mumbling, "He won't die, right?"

Dumbledore gave him a bemused look. "Who's 'he'?"

"You know damn well who 'he' is, Professor!"

Dumbledore chuckled. "Ah, yes, I have a guess. Why would you care, Draco? I thought your obsession with the boy had lessened the summer between your first and second years?"

Draco's glared up at him, before muttering, "_Expecto patronum_," under his breath. The animal issued out from his wand surprised Dumbledore. "A doe…?"

"I saw him, that night last year. The night he saved Sirius Black. Harry Potter _cannot die_," Draco growled at Dumbledore.

"Would you be willing to go against your parents to ensure Mr. Potter lives?" the older man questioned.

That question made Draco freeze. Could he? Could he defy his parents, just to protect this one boy? This one boy who had seemingly meant everything to him ever since his first day at Hogwarts?

Draco smirked at his Headmaster and quipped, "Is that even a question?"

**Hey, look, I'm alive.**

**I was up late reading Drarry fanfiction last night, and this just kinda happened. I'm not abandoning Sorek or Heardom Kingst, but I really like this and I like where I want to take this, so this might just be updated more regularly.**

**Once again, I don't own HP and I never will. Unfortunately.**


	2. The Order of the Phoenix

**_PLEASE READ. THIS IS IMPORTANT.:_**

**_I WILL BE FOLLOWING THE 5TH-7TH BOOKS. I HAVE DONE MY BEST TO STAY TRUE TO THEM, SO THERE IS DIALOGUE FROM THE BOOKS IN THIS FANFICTION. I WANT TO MAKE CLEAR THAT I DO NOT MEAN TO MAKE ANY PROFIT FROM THIS; THE DIALOGUE THAT IS NOT MINE BELONGS TO J.K. ROWLING. I GIVE HER FULL CREDIT FOR EVERYTHING IN THIS FIC THAT IS NOT MINE. I DON'T BELIEVE I AM BREAKING ANY RULES WITH THIS FIC, BUT IF I AM, PLEASE LET ME KNOW AND I WILL TRY TO MODIFY THIS TO THE BEST OF MY ABILITY. I ALSO WILL BE USING HER CHAPTER TITLES FOR THE ONES THAT ARE FROM THE BOOK. THERE WILL BE CHAPTERS FOCUSING ON DRARRY/DRACO/HARRY THAT DO NOT FOLLOW WHAT J.K. ROWLING HAS WRITTEN, BUT THE ONES THAT I HAVE TAKEN FROM HER BOOKS WILL BE NAMED THE SAME AS THE CHAPTERS. THIS IS IN THE HOPE THAT PEOPLE WILL RECOGNIZE THAT IT IS NOT MY TOTAL CREATION AND THAT J.K. ROWLING HAS WRITTEN THIS AND I HAVE ADAPTED IT TO SUIT THIS FANFICTION. AGAIN, PLEASE TELL ME IF THIS IS BREAKING ANY RULES OF AND I WILL ADAPT THIS._**

**Well, after that long note, I'd like to thank CrazyPoetin for favoriting. I'd also like to thank DreamerGirl2245, dracoginnyscorpiuswood, MirrorFlower and Darkwind, Qwerty124, 0QueenOfTheDarkness0, StarPotterCriss, and LiveLifeUp for following.**

**To my reviewers:**

**Gold Violet Eyes: Thank you! I can't promise updates will be this quick ever again (seeing as I am currently on break), but I hope to continue living up to your expectations! ^^**

**dracoginnyscorpiuswood: Yes, you are! ^^**

**MirrorFlower and Darkwind: I'm glad you like it!**

**As I stated before, I don't own anything other than my idea and my love for Drarry.**

Summer dragged on for Draco; he spent it inside Hogwarts until Dumbledore told him it was time to join the rest of the Order of the Phoenix. Draco was incredibly excited; his first time going to an all-important meeting! He could not wait.

Alas, no one else seemed to like having him at 12 Grimmauld Place, except for the painting of Walburga Black, and he discovered he could not join in meetings. After all, he was a Malfoy, and Malfoys were known for their support of You-Know-Who. They only grudgingly accepted him in when Dumbledore and Snape intervened and defended the fifteen-year-old. Sirius Black took him under his wing, chortling that, after all, they were cousins.

Sirius liked to take Draco on mini tours of the headquarters, and the duo would often just relax, Draco often asking questions about his relationship with the Potters. It was actually the day the Order learned about the Dementor attack on Harry that Draco accidentally let slip his true intentions for coming to the the Order.

"So, you've been in contact with Harry since the end of our third year?" Draco inquired.

"For the most part," Sirius replied warily.

"He talks about Hogwarts, right?"

"Mm."

"Has… Has he ever mentioned me?"

Sirius gave him a sharp look. "Why do you ask?"

Draco flushed. "I have my reasons. And they don't concern you!"

"But they concern my godson and my cousin, don't they? What is it you so desperately want?"

Draco looked away and took a deep breath before looking back at him. He finally murmured, "Harry cannot die because of the Dark Lord. He _must _be safe. Nothing can ever harm Harry, ever. Not while I live and breathe and love him."

Sirius looked at him sharply yet again. "Love him?"

"Yes, I love him, alright! But he'll never love me. He hates me. He absolutely hates me," Draco spat, looking up fully at his cousin. Agony formed on his face as he choked out, "He hates me." He looked away as the tears started to spill out and he just kept chanting those three words, rocking back and forth.

Sirius, at a loss for what he could say to comfort the boy, just scooted over and hugged him. "You joined the Order, defied your parents and Voldemort because you fell in love with a boy?"

"It's crazy, I know, but I guess I come from a family of crazies, so not all that strange," Draco quipped. "He's just… He changed me so much. He made me question my father and everything my father has said. I honestly don't know where I'd be if it weren't for him. And then I went and fell for him hard, like a pack of stones. But he hates me, Sirius! He hates me and everything I've ever done!"

"Oh, come now. Once he sees you've joined the Order, he'll think better of you surely," Sirius assured Draco.

HD

He didn't.

The minute Harry came into 12 Grimmauld Place, accidentally met Sirius's mum, and saw Draco just behind Sirius, he accused him of being a spy. Sirius came straight to Draco's defense, saying that Draco did not have the same views as his parents and wanted to prove that, so leave him alone and just make a truce with him, Harry. He is my cousin, after all, and he reminds me of me.

Draco smiled at that last sentence, knowing full well how Sirius had defied the rest of the Blacks.

"Come on, Harry, please just trust me?" he pleaded. "You don't have to like me or tell me all your secrets, but promise me you'll trust that I'm not a true Malfoy?"

Hermione, who had seen that Draco's intents were true, whispered something in Harry's ear. She had somehow managed to convince Ron, so Draco was sure she'd be able to get through to Harry.  
The boy of his affections cast one more glare at him before muttering, "All right. But I don't like it."

"You don't have to," Draco smiled back at him. "Erm, do you mind if I stay with you lot for the rest of the year at Hogwarts? No doubt my 'friends' will have figured out I've betrayed my family by now."

"No, not at all," Hermione quickly smiled at him as the group followed Sirius into the basement kitchen. Draco immediately set to work helping Mrs. Weasley as Harry was greeted by everyone else. He grinned to himself when he heard Sirius say to Harry, "I've been stuck inside for a month. At least I've had Draco to keep me company when the rest of the Order is gone."

"How come?"

"Because the Ministry of Magic's still after me, and Voldemort will know all about me being an Animagus by now, Wormtail will have told him, so my big disguise is useless. There's not much I can do for the Order of the Phoenix… or so Dumbledore feels."

"At least you know what's been going on."

"Oh, yeah. Listening to Snape's reports, having to take all his snide hints that he's out there risking his life while I'm sat on my backside here having a nice comfortable time … asking me how's the cleaning's going—"

"What cleaning?"

Draco chose this moment to intervene. "Well, no one's been living here for ten years, so Sirius and I have been trying to make it possible for human life. That house-elf does nothing around here, honestly." He pointedly ignored Harry's glare directed towards him and just continued preparing the food. He tuned out the rest of the conversation until he heard Mrs. Weasley's screaming. He looked back to see that the Weasley twins had bewitched the food and had almost stabbed Sirius' hand with the knife.

"We were just trying to save a bit of time!" Fred protested as he wrenched the knife out of the table. "Sorry, Sirius, mate—didn't mean to—"

He was cut off by Harry and Sirius' laughter and the swearing coming out of Mundungus. Crookshanks shot straight past them all and ran away under the dresser, glaring at them with his yellow eyes.

"Boys," Mr. Weasley reprimanded, lifting stew back onto the table, "your mother's right, you're supposed to show a sense of responsibility now you've come of age—"

"None of your brothers caused this sort of trouble! Bill didn't feel the need to apparate every few feet! Charlie didn't charm everything he met! Percy—"

Mrs. Weasley froze at the mention of her estranged son, glancing at her now-angry husband.

"Shall we eat?" Draco hurriedly interrupted, placing the Butterbeer on the table.

"It looks wonderful, Molly, Draco," Lupin declared as he ladled stew onto a plate for Molly.

The silence was rather awkward while they ate, no one really wanting to talk lest they accidentally mention Percy again. Different conversations sparked, with Draco being left out of all of them, which was pretty usual. The only ones who talked to him ever were Sirius, Mrs. Weasley, Lupin, and Hermione, and they were all distracted.

Draco just ate in silence, ears perking up when Mrs. Weasley told Sirius about items that needed to be cleaned up in the house. He slumped when he realized that Sirius would probably just want it to be Harry and him cleaning it, and he would lose his closest ally (other than Mrs. Weasley, Dumbledore, and Professor Snape) to Harry.

After helpings of dessert, nearly everyone around the table was nodding off, and Mrs. Weasley took it upon herself to declare that it was nearly time for bed.

"Not just yet, Molly." Sirius turned himself so that he could look at Harry properly and stated, "You know, I'm surprised at you. I thought the first thing you'd do when you got here would be to start asking questions about Voldemort."

Draco felt everyone in the room tense up, anxiously awaiting an answer from Harry.

"I did! I asked Ron and Hermione but they said we're not allowed in the Order, so—"

"And they're quite right. You're too young," Mrs Weasley answered sternly.

"Since when did someone have to be in the Order of the Phoenix to ask questions? Harry's been trapped in that Muggle house for a month. He's got the right to know what's been happening—" Sirius defended.

"Hang on!" George exclaimed.

"How come Harry gets his questions answered?" Fred joined in.

"_We've_ been trying to get stuff out of you for a month and you haven't told us a single stinking thing!"

"_You're too young, you're not in the Order_. Harry's not even of age!"

"It's not my fault that you haven't been told what the Order's doing, that's your parents' decision. Harry, on the other hand—" Sirius tried.

"It's not down to you to decide what's good for Harry!" Mrs. Weasley exploded. "You haven't forgotten what Dumbledore said, I suppose?"

"Which bit?"

"The bit about not telling Harry more than he _needs to know_."

"I don't intend to tell him more than he _needs to know_, Molly. But he was the one who saw Voldemort come back, he has more right than most to—"

"He's not a member of the Order of the Phoenix! He's only fifteen and—"

"And he's dealt with as much as most in the Order, and more than some."

"No one's denying what he's done! But he's still—"

"He's not a child!"

"He's not an adult, either! He's not _James_, Sirius!"

Sirius' expression grew cold. "I'm perfectly clear who he is, thanks, Molly."

"I'm not sure you are!" she said angrily. "Sometimes, the way you talk about him, it's as though you think you've got your best friend back!"

"What's wrong with that?" Harry demanded. Draco secretly thought to himself, _If Harry is anything like his father, I'd have loved to meet him._ He noticed Lupin watching him, thoughtful.

"What's wrong, Harry, is that you are _not_ your father, however much you look like him! You are still at school and adults responsible for you should not forget it!" Mrs. Weasley replied.

"Meaning I'm an irresponsible godfather?" Sirius challenged.

"Meaning you have been known to act rashly, Sirius, which is why Dumbledore keeps reminding you to stay at home and—"

"We'll leave my instructions from Dumbledore out of this, if you please!"

"Arthur!" Mrs. Weasley looked for backup. "Arthur, back me up!"

Mr. Weasley did not answer straight away, cleaning his glasses slowly before putting them back on and replying, "Dumbledore knows the position has changed, Molly. He accepts that Harry will have to be filled in, to a certain extent, now that he is staying at Headquarters."

"Yes, but there's a difference between that and inviting him to ask whatever he likes!"

"Personally," Lupin interrupted, looking away from Draco, "I think it better that Harry gets the facts—not all the facts, Molly, but the general picture—from us, rather than a garbled version from… others." Draco realized that Lupin probably knew about the twins' Extendable Ears.

"Well," Mrs. Weasley finally gave up, "well… I can see I'm going to be overruled. I'll just say this: Dumbledore must have had his reasons for not wanting Harry to know too much, and speaking as someone who has Harry's best interests at heart—"

"He's not your son," Sirius quietly interrupted.

"He's as good as. Who else has he got?"

"He's got me!" _And me._

"Yes," Mrs. Weasley snarled, "the thing is, it's been rather difficult for you to look after him while you've been locked up in Azkaban, hasn't it?"

Draco stared at her in shock, unaware that Sirius had stood until Lupin ordered him to sit and said, "I think Harry ought to be allowed a say in this, he's old enough to decide for himself."

"I want to know what's been going on," was the answer Harry gave. Draco saw it as fair; after all, if he was in Harry's position, he'd want to know that.

"Very well. Ginny—Ron—Hermione—Fred—George—Draco—I want you out of this kitchen, now," Mrs. Weasley ordered.

That instantly caused chaos. The only ones named who didn't say anything were Draco and Hermione. It was finally decided that Ron, Hermione, and the twins would stay. Ginny, of course, made a fuss, and Draco tried to sneak out, but Harry called out, "Wait, Malfoy."

Draco turned to look at him in surprise. "Yeah?"

Harry took a deep breath in and, obviously not liking that he was saying it, "Stay. You can stay. I'm gonna be stuck with you for what's looking like the next year of my life, I might as well start trying to trust you."

Draco, in shock, gradually started to smile, and didn't realize that Harry, Ron, and Hermione noticed. "Thank you," he grinned as he sat back down next to Sirius.

"Ah, can you sit next to me? I don't trust you not to secretly send this to Voldemort and I want to see what you're doing," Harry explained.

This was more than Draco could ever hope for. He (secretly gleeful) took his seat next to Harry, and even went so far as to give Harry everything in his pockets (except for newspaper clipping of Harry's photo. He didn't need that). Draco sat through the entire explanation, silent the entire time. He didn't say anything when Mrs. Weasley decided that they'd been given enough information, or when Harry said he wanted to be in the Order. He just stayed silent, didn't say anything to get on Harry's bad side or anyone else's, and went up to bed when ordered.

He secretly wished, though, that he could join the Order, too. It would give him a better reason to keep Harry safe that no one would suspect.

He had only told Sirius; no one else knew. He had told Sirius he could tell Lupin, but Draco doubted he had.

As long as his secret was safe, that was all that mattered.


	3. The Noble and Most Ancient House of Blac

**First off, I don't own anything except my changes to the plot.**

**I'd like to thank PandoraShitsuji, ilovetoomanytosay, shinobi101, NeverAsItSeems, shugocharxxx, Mtulipa, hotkittengirl, and SuperNaturalPrincess14 for favoriting; astrallumiere, PandroaShitsuji, ilovetoomanytosay, shugocharxxx, Mtulipa, White-D, mewstarlight, and SupernaturalPrincess14 for following.**

**To my reviewers:**

**MirrorFlower and Darkwind: Wow, thank you! ^^**

**NeverAsItSeems: Aw, thank you!**

**shugocharxxx: To your first review: Aw, thanks! To your second review: Aw, don't cry! It's just fanfiction! ^^ I can't promise updates as quick as they have been, as life has a tendency to kick my ass, but I'll try!**

**SupernaturalPrincess14: I plan on continuing!**

**Read on, my minions!**

As Mrs. Weasley sent everyone up to bed, Ron discreetly asked Lupin to keep Harry occupied for about ten minutes. Lupin gave him a strange look, but nodded, and called out Harry's name, asking if he knew who the next Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher would be. Ron stalked Draco upstairs to their room that the two would be sharing with Harry and slammed the door behind him. "Give it."

Mal— Draco stared at him. "I beg your pardon?"

"Give it to me. I know you didn't give Harry something, I saw the panic on your face when you felt it in your pocket, and we don't have much time before Harry comes in. Give it here." Ron held his hand out expectantly. When Draco didn't give him anything, he sighed, "Look, if you want me to trust you, give me the bloody thing!"

Draco glared at him before reaching into his pocket and thrust the photo of Harry at him. "There, you happy?"

Ron just looked at the photo, dumbstruck. "Why the bloody hell do you have a photo of Harry in your pocket?"

"Because he's the reason I'm here, okay!" Draco angrily told him. "I joined because of Perfect Potter. Now can you stop prying into my personal life, please?"

"Not when it involves my best friend! Draco, what's up? You can trust me."

Draco looked at him for a while before cracking. "Well, you had to find out sometime, I guess. Oh, come on, don't tell me you're _that_ thick! I'm carrying around a photo of a teenaged boy, for Merlin's sake!"

Ron just stared at Draco. "You mean to tell me you have a crush on _Harry Potter_? The boy your parents are hunting down? The boy you've teased and taunted ever since we started Hogwarts? You hate him!"

"I don't hate him! I never did." Draco just looked at the wall. "I just… You lot all hated me, because I made a foolish mistake our first year, and continued to make mistakes. And so, I went with it. I hoped one day we'd be able to look past it—well, at least Harry—but I guess Cedric Diggory's death brought it." Ron just continued staring at him until Draco couldn't handle it. "Will you stop?!"

"Oh, sorry, it's just… It's hard to imagine you not hating us, y'know?"

"Well, I really did hate you and Hermione. It was Harry I didn't. I don't hate you now, though!" Draco hurriedly reassured Ron. Ron just nodded and gave Draco the photo back. "And don't you _dare_ tell Harry! If he ever found out the reason I left the Dar—ahem, You-Know-Who…"

Ron nodded and gave him back the photo. "I won't tell, I promise. Just… If you ever need to vent to someone, talk to Hermione. She's better at romance and getting people to love you than me."

"Thanks," Draco sincerely grinned just as Harry came in. Harry just looked at Draco and said, "You're rooming with us, then?" before noticing there were only two beds. "Wait—"

"I'm sleeping on the floor," Draco explained. Harry just gave him a shocked look before the three changed into their pajamas and Harry noticed that Hedwig and Pigwidgeon were restlessly rattling around in their cages.

"We can't let them out to hunt every night. Dumbledore doesn't want too many owls swooping around the square, thinks it'll look suspicious."

"Uh, can you lock the door, Ron? I'd do it, but I'm feeding the owls," Draco asked, giving the owls a bit of mouse. He ignored Harry's start at Draco calling the Golden Boy's best friend by his first name as said ginger nodded and bolted the door. "Kreacher likes to come in here while we're sleeping. It's unnerving."

"Anyway," Ron declared, trying to dissolve the tension, "_what d'you reckon_?"

Draco thought it best to stay out of the conversation until the twins Apparated into the room, and he scooted over to make sure there was enough room for them. He zoned out while the four kept talking until the twins Apparated away and realized that Mrs. Weasley was outside the door, listening. "She doesn't trust us at all, you know," Ron moaned when she had gone. That was the last thing Draco heard as he snuggled into his blankets on the floor and fell asleep.

He woke to Ron shaking him awake, saying, "Breakfast is ready, mate. Mum said she wanted you to rest, you've been helping her so much." Draco gratefully smiled as he sat up, careful not to knock his head into Ron's, and stretched. "Harry already dressed and went downstairs, George woke us up. I figured you'd want to wake up a little later, since it might be awkward if Harry caught you staring."

"Thanks." Although Draco wouldn't have minded if Harry caught him. He quickly strode to his new suitcase and picked out his clothes. They were nothing like what he'd had when he lived at the Manor. Hermione had taken him shopping for normal clothes when she realized he hadn't wanted anything from his past life, so all his clothes were much more colorful. Most of his shirts were green, of course. Slytherin colors and all that. And Harry's eyes. But that was his little secret.

"Oh, by the way, can I tell Hermione? I just think she should know, especially since if you ever need to talk you'll be going to her, anyway," Ron questioned, making a point not to look at Draco as he changed.

"Erm, sure. Go ahead. Just make sure Harry's not in the room."

"Great. I'll just let you get changed." As Ron left the room, Draco thought to himself about how much he had changed just by coming to 12 Grimmauld Place. He would never have thought himself becoming close to Ron or Hermione, and now they were ever so slowly becoming friends. He shocked himself at how nice it felt to trust them. _Well, there's a first for everything_, he thought as he zipped his pants up and walked down to the bathroom.

After eating, he was bombarded by Mrs. Weasley who sprayed his face with Doxycide, gave him a towel, and told to go into the drawing room. Harry stared at him before giving Mrs. Weasley his full attention, and Draco quickly covered his face. "When I say the word, start spraying immediately," the woman ordered. "They'll come flying out at us, I expect, but it says on the sprays one good squirt will paralyze them. When they're immobilized, just throw them in this bucket. All right—_squirt_!"

It was at this moment Draco realized he didn't have a bottle. He quickly grabbed one as the first Doxy headed straight for him. He noticed Harry moving closer to the twins, and he raised an eyebrow before he realized they were probably just talking about the joke shop.

It was midday when they finished, and had to move onto cleaning out cabins with a bunch of creepy knick-knacks when the doorbell rang. Mrs. Weasley, not happy with the fact that Mrs. Black was going to wail again, muttered something about bringing up sandwiches and disappeared. Everyone but Draco raced over to the window to see who it was.

"Mundungus! What's he brought all those cauldrons for?" Hermione wondered.

"Probably looking for a safe place to keep them. Isn't that what he was doing the night he was supposed to be tailing me? Picking up dodgy cauldrons?" Harry answered.

"Yeah, you're right!" Fred realized. "Blimey, Mum won't like that…"

The twins went to the door and opened it, without hearing Mrs. Black. As the twins readied the Extendable Ears, they heard a "WE ARE NOT RUNNING A HIDEOUT FOR STOLEN GOODS!" from Mrs. Weasley.

"I love hearing Mum shout at someone else," Fred sighed contently, "it makes such a nice change."

"—COMPLETELY IRRESPONSIBLE, AS IF WE HAVEN'T GOT ENOUGH TO WORRY ABOUT WITH YOU DRAGGING STOLEN CAULDRONS INTO THE HOUSE—"

"The idiots are letting her get into her stride. You've got to head her off early otherwise she builds up a head of steam and goes on for hours," George tsked. "And she's been dying to have a go at Mundungus ever since he sneaked off when he was supposed to be following you, Harry—and there goes Sirius's mum again."

Mrs. Weasley was drowned out by the unearthly—and not in a good way—voice of Mrs. Black, and the twins tried to close the door, but an ugly little creature snuck its way in, not paying attention to anyone as it muttered to itself, "…smells like a drain and a criminal to boot, but she's no better, nasty old blood traitor with her brats messing up my mistress's house, oh, my poor mistress, if she knew, if she knew the scum they've let into her house, what would she say to old Kreacher, oh, the shame of it, Mudbloods and werewolves and traitors and thieves, poor old Kreacher, what can he do…"

"Hallo, Kreacher," Draco spat contemptuously at the house-elf as Fred closed the door.

He stilled, and gave a horrid show of acting surprised.

"Kreacher did not see young master," he replied, bowing towards Draco. He loudly spat, "Son of Malfoy, traitor to the Malfoy name, associating with blood traitors."

"Sorry?" George hissed. "Didn't catch that last bit."

"Kreacher said nothing," he said, bowing to George.

Draco noticed Harry's bemused expression as the house-elf muttered, "…and there's the Mudblood, standing there bold as brass, oh, if my mistress knew, oh, how she'd cry, and there's a new boy, Kreacher doesn't know his name. What is he doing here? Kreacher doesn't know…"

Hermione murmured, "This is Harry, Kreacher. Harry Potter."

Kreacher, appalled, quickly said to himself, "The Mudblood is talking to Kreacher as though she is my friend, if Kreacher's mistress saw him in such company, oh, what would she say—"

"Don't call her a Mudblood!" Ron, Ginny, and Draco snarled. Draco noticed Harry's shocked expression before he remembered he'd called Hermione that their second year. Oops.

"It doesn't matter, he's not in his right mind, he doesn't know what he's—" Hermione tried weakly.

"Don't kid yourself, Hermione, he knows _exactly_ what he's saying," Fred scoffed, watching him.

"Is it true?" Kreacher wondered, staring at Harry. "Is it Harry Potter? Kreacher can see the scar, it must be true, that's the boy who stopped the Dark Lord, Kreacher wonders how he did it—"

"Don't we all, Kreacher," sighed Fred.

"What do you want, anyway?" George demanded.

"Kreacher is cleaning."

"A likely' story," Sirius growled as he entered, Kreacher throwing himself into a pathetic show of a bow. "Stand up straight. Now, what are you up to?"

"Kreacher is cleaning. Kreacher lives to serve the Noble House of Black—"

"And it's getting blacker every day, it's filthy."

"Master always liked his little joke. Master was a nasty ungrateful swine who broke his mother's heart—"

"My mother didn't have a heart, Kreacher. She kept herself alive out of pure spite."

"Whatever Master says. Master is not fit to wipe slime from his mother's boots, oh, my poor mistress, what would she say if she saw Kreacher serving him, how she hated him, what a disappointment he was—"

Draco decided this would be a good point to tune out Kreacher and Sirius and keep an eye on Harry (of course). He wasn't surprised that Harry was confused and appalled by Kreacher. The only real experience he'd had with house-elves was Dobby, and Dobby was too good of a house-elf. _Poor, poor Harry_, he mused,_ so innocent and oblivious to the real world. That's what ya get from living with Muggles all the time._

"Sirius, he's not right in the head. I don't think he realizes we can hear him."

"He's been alone, too long," Sirius reminded Hermione, "taking mad orders from my mother's portrait and talking to himself, but he always was a foul little—"

"Don't suggest setting him free, Hermione," Draco intervened, seeing the look on her face. "He's been here for too long and knows too much. He'd die out there, either way." He took it upon himself to leave and offer a hand to Mrs. Weasley. She brought up the food while Draco brought drinks on a tray. Sometimes being fifteen sucked.

The rest of the afternoon and next few days were spent doing even more cleaning, this time with the added help of Sirius and the meddling of Kreacher, and eavesdropping whenever visitors arrived.

Draco sensed Harry was terrified of the hearing. He could read it in his body language. He also woke up to see Harry was having a nightmare most nights. But Harry was also having fun, and Draco could see it whenever Harry was busy and with Hermione, Ron, and Sirius. He felt a desire to join them, and often did; Hermione and Ron liked to include him. Harry wasn't as keen, and his walls still hadn't broken down yet.

On Wednesday evening, during dinner, Mrs. Weasley told Harry, "I've ironed your best clothes for tomorrow morning, Harry, and I want you to wash your hair tonight, too. A good first impression can work wonders."

Ron, Hermione, Fred, George, and Ginny stopped eating and watched. Draco was the only one who kept eating and didn't pay much attention.

"How am I getting there?" Harry asked, and Draco could tell he was doing his best to be nonchalant.

"Arthur's taking you to work with him," Mrs. Weasley smiled.

"You can wait in my office until it's time for the hearing," Mr. Weasley grinned.

Before Harry could ask about Sirius, Mrs. Weasley said, "Professor Dumbledore doesn't think it's a good idea for Sirius to go with you, and I must say I—"

"—think he's _quite right_," Sirius growled and Draco sighed, having heard it all before.

"When did Dumbledore tell you that?" Harry gasped.

"He came last night while you were in bed," Mr. Weasley explained.

As the teenagers headed upstairs, Harry wheeled on Draco. "Why didn't you stop what you were doing when Mrs. Weasley started talking about my hearing? Do you not care if I go back to Hogwarts?"

Ron and Hermione, who were ahead, just stopped and looked down in Harry in shock. Draco, however, looked Harry in the eye and said, "I have faith that you'll be clear. No point in panicking over something that won't happen," and brushed past him, leaving a very confused Harry.


	4. The Woes of Mrs Weasley & Luna Lovegood

**I do not own Harry Potter, sadly.**

**I have exams this week; I don't have one Friday, so hopefully I'll be able to write then! However, I may not be able to, because I'm moving, and my HP books might get packed DX Anyway, I wanted to get a chapter out, so here you go!**

**I'd like to thank Slytherin Princezz1992, Canadafangirl11, ambertink, and Lena Brown for favoriting; nativewonder, Shadow Stalker7, AlwaysLaughing1, tam418, Jasmine Indigo Sappihhra, potterjay99, Insane Worm, and writinchic for favoriting this story; potterjay99 for favoriting ME, and for the following reviewers:**

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**Read on, minions!**

Harry, of course, got off—Dumbledore apparently showed up to help him. As the summer passed, the book lists for Hogwarts came—and so did a few other surprises.

Draco, Ron, and Hermione were made prefects. Mrs. Weasley immediately wanted to buy prizes for the three; for Ron, a Cleansweep, for Hermione, an owl (she desperately needed one), and for Draco, well, he wouldn't let her. He used the excuse, "I'm a Slytherin, not a Gryffindor."

In reality, it was because they had no money and he didn't want to seem like he relied on the Weasleys.

He watched Harry throughout the celebratory party. He looked upset, but he brightened when he was told his dad wasn't a prefect. Draco made the decision to buy Harry something; he needed cheering up.

He worried when Mad-Eye gave Harry a photograph and Harry paled. Harry was saved by Sirius, and dashed out of the room. Draco excused himself to Ron and Hermione (who Ron had told while Harry was at the Ministry) and quickly followed him to see Harry staring at his dead body and a sobbing Mrs. Weasley. Draco paled, and, shaking, muttered, "_Riddikulus_."

The Boggart disappeared, and Harry gave a start and turned to see Draco. "Malfoy?"

Mrs. Weasley looked up, and hiccupped. "Oh, thank you, Draco. I'm sorry, Harry—you must think I'm silly—"

"Don't be stupid. Go to bed," he smiled, gently taking her arm. Mrs. Wealsey smiled at the both of them, and she allowed Harry to lead her to her and Arthur's room. Draco watched them and made his way to their room, not in the mood to go back down to the party, and resolved to make breakfast by himself the next morning.

He had his eyes closed, trying to figure out what to do next, when Harry came in the room. "Why were you upstairs?"

He didn't open his eyes as he answered, "I noticed you looked distraught, so I wanted to make sure you didn't do anything foolish."

"Why haven't you gone back?"

"Why should I?"

"It's your party."

"It's only my party because of Mrs. Weasley. No one likes me here, except for a few people. I'd be shunned."

Harry grunted. "Thank you."

At this, Draco raised an eyebrow and opened his eyes to fully look at Harry. "For?"

"Getting rid of the Boggart."

"It's nothing. I care about her, too, you know."

Harry just nodded. Draco thought for a moment, and before he could stop himself, he found himself asking, "Do you want to help me make breakfast tomorrow?"

Harry looked at him, wariness in his eyes. After a couple moments, it went away, and he replied, "Sure. She needs a break."

HD

Draco and Harry traveled with Mrs. Weasley and Tonks (and Sirius in dog form) to King's Cross. The two had become much closer since the night of the party, much to Draco's happiness, and they were almost attached at the hip, much to the visible annoyance of Ginny. They played with Sirius while waiting for Mad-Eye with the luggage, Mr. Weasley with Ron and Hermione, and Lupin with Fred, George, and Ginny.

They all gave their goodbyes, and got on the train. Draco vaguely wondered what Crabbe and Goyle would be doing without him. He was sure they'd learned of his abandoning the Death Eaters. He watched as Sirius followed the train, watching Harry and he the entire time. Soon, though, he was gone as the train left the station. Hermione fretted about how Sirius should never have come, and Ron defended him. Everyone went their own ways, and Draco unwillingly left Harry to join the other prefects in the prefect carriage, and socialized with Ron and Hermione, trying to avoid a conversation with Pansy. The moment he could, Draco disappeared, wanting to get back to Harry.

As he was making his way through the train, he ran into Crabbe and Goyle and—"

"Nott?"

Theodore Nott, the stringiest Slytherin in his year, smirked at him. "Ah, Malfoy. Who'd have thought _you'd _have shown your face at Hogwarts this year?"

"Well, it _is_ my school, thank you," Draco snarled. "Besides, wouldn't want to miss my chance being a _prefect_."

"Lovely," Nott sneered. "Well, seeing as how you left us, Crabbe and Goyle needed someone new, and I fit the description perfectly."

"I wasn't expecting them to want to come back to Hogwarts with me."

"Especially after you left the Dark Lord."

"I don't have time to deal with you lot, so if you'll excuse me—"

Goyle blocked the way, and Crabbe came up behind him. "Now, boys, do you want me to give you a detention?" Goyle looked unsure, but Crabbe just stalked closer and reached out at Draco.

"_Stupefy_!"

Draco leapt at Goyle so not to be crushed by Crabbe. Nott, furious, turned on Ron, who had his wand out and pointed at Crabbe, and Hermione, who coolly said, "Detention for the three of you. Come, Draco."

He gratefully followed the two, muttering a thanks. Hermione just smiled at him.

They arrived at the carriage, and Draco ignored the terrified look Long—Neville gave him. Harry looked at Ron, Hermione, then saw Draco. "Draco, what happened?"

Draco jumped. "Why? What's wrong?"

"You… You look terrified. You're unhealthily pale." Harry pulled Draco closer and made him sit down next to him. "Tell me. Now."

"Ran into Crabbe and Goyle. They're following Nott now, and are angry I left You-Know-Who." Draco realized he was shaking. "Pretty sure I wouldn't have made it to Hogwarts if Ron and Hermione hadn't shown up."

Hermione pulled Draco into a hug and just stroked his hair soothingly as Ron told Harry, "Don't worry, Mione gave the lot of them detention."

"What's life going to be like for you in the Slytherin common room?" Harry asked. "I mean, everyone in Slytherin knows you've abandoned your family now."

"Whoa, what?" Neville stared at Draco. "You're serious?"

Ron explained everything (except for the Harry bit) to Neville while Ginny came over and rested her hand on Draco's knee.

He was thankful for the girls' comfort, he really was, but he just wanted to be able to give Harry his gift.

Draco realized Harry had brought up a point that he hadn't thought about. What was he going to do when he was forced to live with the Slytherins? Almost all, if not all, supported and knew You-Know-Who was back, and that meant they would know that Draco had left the Malfoy family and the Dark Arts behind. This year looked like it was going to be hell.

He heard Ron's joke about Goyle writing lines, and started laughing, but was startled when he heard the blonde girl in the room. He had no idea who she was, but she really, really liked Ron's joke, apparently. He watched as Harry read _The Quibbler_, listened as Hermione dissed it and as the blonde girl revealed she was Luna Lovegood.

Too soon, it was time to change into their robes, and Draco took this opportunity to give Harry his gift. Pulling Harry into the corridor, he reached into his pocket and pulled out something tiny. He quickly cast _Engorgio_ to reveal they were deep red dress robes with gold trim. "Consider them a very late birthday present. And to make up for the fact that you're not a Prefect," Draco said as he gave them to him.

Harry just stared at them in awe. "They're so high-end! Where did you get them?"

"Twilfitt and Tattings. Had to special-order them, since that's where my parents go," Draco replied, grinning. Thank god they turned out so well. "Well, go on, try them on."

Harry hurriedly put them on, and (thankfully) they were a perfect fit. "How'd you manage to get my size?"

"Stole your dress robes from last year and sent them. You have them, don't worry," Draco smirked. "Come on, we need to go actually get into our school robes. I need to patrol."

He was surprised by the hug Harry gave him. "Thanks, Draco."

"No problem," he smiled, hugging him back.

Making a promise to see each other before they went to dinner to Harry, Draco left to patrol with Ron and Hermione, chatting amicably.

"Harry has never hugged me. Ever," Ron was saying. Well, of course, that just put Draco on Cloud Nine, and telling Pansy off for being a bitch to a first-year. "Can I give a prefect detention?" he murmured to Hermione as the girl with a pug-nose stalked off.

"Wait until she does more," was her advice.

They managed to meet Harry just before the coach. Harry tried to get Ron to see the thestrals that were carrying the carriages, but Draco deduced Ron had never seen death.

"Shall we get in, then?" Ron asked, staring at Harry worriedly.

"Yeah. Yeah, go on…"

"It's all right," Luna reassured Harry. "You're not going mad or anything. I can see them, too."

"Can you?" Harry asked, relieved.

"Oh yes. I've been able to see them ever since my first day here. They've always pulled the carriages. Don't worry. You're just as sane as I am."

Seeing Harry wasn't happy by that last phrase, Draco murmured in his ear, "They appear to people who've seen death. You're sane, don't worry." He then proceeded to go into the carriage and gave Harry a hand in. The two then settled in and prepared for the ride.


	5. The Hat's New Song & Professor Umbridge

**SURPRISE!**

**I ended up being forced to stop studying (my parents are so good to me) and I chose to spend my night writing this. You're welcome.**

**I obviously don't own anything.**

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**Read on, minions!**

Draco stared out the window of the carriage on the ride to Hogwarts. He ignored the Golden Trio's worried looks. Harry rested a hand on his shoulder, but he ignored it. He thought about dinner. What was he going to do?

He didn't listen as the first-years were Sorted, only applauding when he noticed that his housemates were. He didn't pay attention to Professor Umbridge, though he knew that she worked for the Ministry. _So they've decided they need to keep an eye on Harry and Dumbledore._

He ate his food without gusto. He'd sat where the first-years usually sat, and the one he'd defended from Pansy sat next to him. She was a bright little thing, excited. "Is Professor Snape nice?" she asked. She'd ask him questions, and he'd answer. He quite liked little Jess. He made the decision to protect her, turn her into the sister he never had.

She was right behind him as he and Pansy led the first-years to the common room. He promised he'd see her at breakfast as Pansy led the first-years to their dorms. He went upstairs and went straight to bed, wishing desperately that Harry was lying beside him.

Draco actually waited for Jess in the morning, saying he didn't want her getting lost. She beamed at him, and he told her as much history as he could.

"Of course, Hermione Granger would be able to tell you so much more. She's the Gryffindor Prefect."

"Gryffindor? I thought Ravenclaws were the smart ones. And Pansy said I shouldn't interact with other houses."

"Well, that's a load of rubbish. Hermione is one of my closest friends. It is my belief the houses should try to get along with others. Especially Slytherin."

Jess stared up at him, wide-eyed, drinking in every word he said. As the time for his first class approached, he told Jess where Potions was, and wandered over to the Gryffindor table, praying he had classes with Harry, Ron, and Hermione. Thankfully, he had every single class with them, and walked with them to History of Magic.

After class, he laughed as Hermione berated Ron and Harry for not taking notes, and he whispered in Harry's ear, "Don't worry, if she doesn't, I'll share mine."

"Hello, Harry!"

Draco turned to see Cho Chang, the sixth year Ravenclaw, coming towards him, and he noticed Harry's ears turning red. Jealously welled up inside him, and he decided he didn't like Chang.

"Hi," Harry murmured.

"You got that stuff off, then?"

"Yeah. So, did you… er… have a good summer?"

"Oh, it was alright, you know…" Seeing the expression on her face, Draco remembered that she'd been dating Diggory before his death.

Ron hurriedly interjected with a demeaning, "Is that a Tornados badge? You don't support them, do you?"

"Yeah, I do."

"Have you always supported them, or just since they started winning the league?" Draco had never been more grateful for Ron Weasley than now.

"I've supported them since I was six. Anyway… see you, Harry." And with that, she walked off. Hermione proceeded to round on Ron for his so-called-tactlessness. When the bell rang, they made their way to Potions, and Draco saw Ron whisper into Hermione's ear, and she looked understanding and whispered back. Draco figured Ron was explaining and Hermione was apologizing.

Draco sat with Harry in the back, and whispered, "What do you see in her?"

Before Harry could respond, Professor Snape came in and class started. Draco, of course, brewed it excellently, and he helped Harry constantly, and his turned out almost just as well. Snape glared at Draco, and Draco raised an eyebrow.

Lunch was after that, and Draco left them to go to the Slytherin table. Jess ran over to him, and he gladly dove into a conversation with her. As he finished his shepherd's pie, he noticed Harry angrily leaving the room.

"Jess, would you like to meet Hermione?" As she nodded excitedly, he led her to the Gryffindor table, and Hermione was shocked that Jess was in such awe of her. Draco gave Jess a hug and followed Harry as Jess was saying that Draco spoke so highly of Hemione.

As he made his way to the Divination Tower, he saw Nott and his ex-friends making his way towards him. "Enjoying detention, boys?"

Nott snarled and reached for his wand, but Draco brought his out faster and pointed it at him. "Watch it, Nott. Don't cross me. I may have left, but I'm still a Malfoy, and Malfoys are some of the best wizards in the world. Don't make me hex you." And with that, he strode to the Divination Tower.

He saw Harry was the only student. "You alright?"

Harry looked up, saw him, and replied, "Yeah. Ron and Hermione are arguing again. That's all they every do."

"Like an old married couple?"

Harry laughed. "That's a perfect way to describe it."

Draco grinned. "I'll sit behind you, with Neville, so that you can sit with Ron." Before Harry could argue, Draco set his stuff down and Ron showed up. "Hermione and me have stopped arguing."

"Good."

"But Hermione says she thinks it would be nice if you stopped taking your temper out on us."

"I'm not—"

"I'm just passing on the message. But I reckon she's right. It's not our fault how Seamus and others treat you."

"I never said it—"

"Good-day," Professor Trelawney crooned, beginning class, and Draco was forced to pay full attention to her.

Ron complained about the amount of homework tremendously, and Draco blocked him out. He just hoped that Defense Against the Dark Arts was any good.

It wasn't. He couldn't stand this Professor Umbridge. He, of course, started reading the book, only looking up when Hermione said that Umbridge never said anything about using spells.

"_Using_ defensive spells?" Umbridge looked appalled as she gave a little laugh. "Why, I can't imagine any situation arising in my classroom that would require you to use a defensive spell, Miss Granger. You surely aren't expecting to be attacked in class?"

"We're not going to use magic?" Ron asked incredulously.

"Students raise their hands when they wish to speak in my class, Mr—?"

"Weasley." His hand shot straight up.

Harry and Hermione also thrust their hands up. She ignored Ron and went straight to Hermione. "Yes, Miss Granger? You wanted to ask something else?"

"Yes. Surely the whole point of Defense Against the Dark Arts is to practice defensive spells?"

"Are you a Ministry-trained educational expert, Miss Granger?"

"No, but—"

"Well, then, I'm afraid you are not qualified to decide what the 'whole point' of any class. Wizards much older and cleverer than you than you have devised our new program of study. You will learn about defensive spells in a secure, risk-free way—"

"What use is that?" Harry practically shouted. "If we're going to be attacked, it won't be in a—"

"_Hand_, Mr. Potter!"

Harry put his hand back up in the air, and he was ignored, but others had put their hands up. "And your name is?"

"Dean Thomas."

"Well, Mr. Thomas?"

"Well, it's like Harry said, isn't it? If we're going to be attacked, it won't be risk free."

"I repeat, do you expect to be attacked during my classes?"

"No, but—"

"I do not wish to criticize the way things have been run in this school, but you have been exposed to some very irresponsible wizards in this class, very irresponsible indeed—not to mention extremely dangerous half-breeds."

"If you mean Professor Lupin, he was the best we ever—" Dean fumed.

"_Hand_, Mr. Thomas! As I was saying—you have been introduced to spells that are complex, inappropriate to your age group and potentially lethal. You have been frightened into believing that you are likely to meet Dark attacks every other day—"

"No, we haven't, we just—"

"_Your hand is not up, Miss Granger!_ It is my understanding that my predecessor not only performed illegal curses in front of you, he actually performed them on you."

"Well, he turned out to be a maniac, didn't he? Mind you, we still learned loads."

"_Your hand is not up, Mr. Thomas!_ Now, it is the view of the Ministry that a theoretical knowledge will be more sufficient to get you through your examination, which, after all, is what school is all about. And your name is?"

"Parvati Patil, and isn't there a practical bit in our Defense Against the Dark Arts OWL? Aren't we supposed to show that we can actually do the counter-curses and things?"

"As long as you have studied the theory hard enough, there is no reason why you should not be able to perform the spells under carefully controlled examination conditions."

"Without ever practicing them beforehand? Are you telling us that the first time we'll get to do the spells will be during our exam?"

"I repeat, as long as you have studied the theory hard enough—"

"And what good's theory going to be in the real world?" Harry piped up.

"This is school, Mr. Potter, not the real world."

"So you're telling us that you're not preparing us for reality?" There was a collective gasp throughout the classroom; _Draco Malfoy was on Harry's side?_

"Mr. Malfoy, there is nothing waiting out there. Who do you imagine wants to attack children like yourselves?"

"Hmm, let's think…" Harry mock thought, catching Draco's eye.

"How about…" Draco answered, and Harry joined him in saying, "_Lord Voldemort?_"

Ron gasped, Lavender Brown screamed, Neville fell off his stool, and Umbridge stood, clearly furious. Draco held no regrets.

"Ten points from both Gryffindor and Slytherin. Now let me make a few things quite plain. You have been told that a certain wizard has returned from the dead—"

"He wasn't dead, but yeah, he's returned!"

"Mr.—Potter—you—have—already—lost—your—house—ten—points—do—not—make—matters—worse—for—yourself. As I was saying, you have been informed that a certain Dark wizard is at large once again. _This is a lie._"

"My father was there that night. It is NOT a lie!"

"Detention, Malfoy! Tomorrow evening, five o'clock. My office. You have insulted your father, who is working at the Ministry and would NOT join him if he was back! You are doing a bad job as a prefect. I repeat: _this is a lie_. The Ministry of Magic guarantees that you are not in danger from any Dark wizard. If you are still worried, by all means come and see me outside of class hours. If someone is alarming you with fibs about reborn Dark wizards, I would like to hear about it. I am here to help. I am your friend. And now, you will kindly continue your reading. Page five, 'Basics for Beginningers'."

She sat, but Harry stood, and Draco joined him.

"So," Draco started, giving Harry a reassuring glance, "how did Cedric Diggory die, Professor?"

Umbridge glared at the pair. "Cedric Diggory's death was a tragic accident."

"It was murder. Voldemort killed him and you know it." Harry's voice shook, and Draco rested his hand on his should reassuringly.

Umbridge blanked before, "Come here, Mr. Potter, Mr. Malfoy, dears."

The two boys made their way to the front of the classroom. On pink parchment she wrote two letters, and neither of the boys were able to see what she was writing.

"Take this to Professor McGonagall, Mr. Potter, dear, and this to Professor Snape, Mr. Malfoy," she calmly ordered, handing them each a note. They took them and left, and the minute the door closed behind them, Harry grabbed Draco into a hug.

"Thank you," he said as he pulled away. "Really. It's good knowing I have you on my side."

"Who'd have ever thought it?" Draco laughed. "But I'm glad, too. If I'm going to one day be part of the Order, might as well start now."

"Why'd you change sides?"

The question Draco dreaded the most. At least until he could tell Harry. And so, he claimed, "I have my personal reasons. I'd like to keep them private, if you don't mind."

"Of course," Harry smiled. "We all have our secrets. Well, might as well go tell our Heads of Houses whatever this says."

"See ya, mate," Draco clapped a hand on the Boy Who Lived's shoulder before heading to the dungeons.

He waited outside Professor Snape's classroom until he could hear nothing but students dropping ingredients into their cauldrons. He knocked on the door, and waited until he heard, "Come in."

Draco poked his head in. "I've been sent by Professor Umbridge, Professor."

"Come in, Draco, we'll go into my office." Draco followed, and he ignored the third-years staring at him. He handed Snape the note, and Snape's expression never changed.

As Snape set the pink note down, he stoically said, "Well, you're obviously a terrible prefect. You have detention at five o'clock every night for a week, starting tomorrow."

Draco blanched. "Detention? For that long?"

"Well, considering you told her the Dark Lord is back…"

"But it's the truth and you know it is, Professor! I wasn't just going to let her be rude to Harry like that!"

"So Potter has the same punishment?"

"I guess so."

Snape just stared at him before starting, "Well, just do this detention and do not get another. Or Dumbledore might reconsider making you a prefect."


	6. Detention with Dolores

**Hello, all!**

**I wanted to make this chapter really long for a couple of reasons, the main one being I don't see myself being able to update regularly until the middle of March. For those of you that care, I am an actress, and in high school. My school is lucky enough to have enough funding for two shows per year, and our second is starting to draw closer and closer. Auditions are going to happen soon, and once that happens, well, I'll be swamped with homework and memorizing and rehearsal. Unfortunately, that will mean no _He Will Be Mine_ updates for a while. So, to make it up to you, I decided to purposefully prolong this chapter with a bit of Draco-ness.**

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**As always, I don't own anything, and read on, minions! **

Dinner went worse for Draco than he thought it ever could. Word spread quickly that he had defended Harry Potter and he had detention for a week. Jess, of course, didn't care. She just shrugged and said, "You did what was right. That's more important to me than being the prefect who got detention. Can I come with you?"

Draco just ruffled her hair and said no way José. He encouraged her to interact with other first-years, saying he had homework to do and went upstairs, seeing her make conversation with another Slytherin boy. He sank into his thoughts as he walked down to the dungeons, not caring if anyone bumped into him. Last year that would have made people cower, but not this year.

He had to admit, he liked the solidarity. He liked not being constantly followed around by Crabbe and Goyle. It enabled him to think without the goons interrogating him.

He sat by the window the squid usually slept by to do his homework. If he listened carefully enough, he could hear the creatures moving around in the water. It soothed him. It was just him, his quill scratching the parchment and dipping into the ink bottle, and the water and its creatures. He wasn't sure how much longer he had until the rest of his year showed up. He kind of hoped Pansy spoke to him. She wasn't linked to Voldemort. Maybe she would actually show some kindness to him.

He just hoped that, if she did, she'd stop pursuing him in a romantic light.

Well, when the rest of the fifth-years came into the common room, he stared evenly at them before any of them made a move.

It was Pansy. She strode across the room and slapped him. "How dare you," she whispered, seemingly broken. "How dare you defend Potter. How dare you get detention and disgrace Slytherin. How dare you force me to pick up your slack as a prefect—"

"You're tormenting first-years! If anything, _I'm_ the one picking up _your _slack! You're not supposed to be a bitch to first-years, you are meant to help them. You're meant to set a good example for them to follow. By having this detention, I'm doing just that. I'm showing them to stand up for what they believe in. You'd do the same if Voldemort asked you to! Don't you tell me I'm disgracing Slytherin when I'm the one trying to bring it back up and all you do is knock me down!"

His classmates stared at him in shock. "How could you say his name?" Nott whispered, fearful. The only ones who ever did were Harry and Dumbledore.

Draco honestly didn't know. The first time he ever had was in Defense Against the Dark Arts earlier that day. But, of course, he had to say something. "It's a name. I don't fear him anymore. If you felt the way I did, you'd leave him in a flash, too. Now, shoo, I have Potions to do." And with that, he sat back down and continued writing his essay. One by one his classmates left, Pansy the last of all. He ignored the tears in her eyes and just continued putting words to parchment.

The squid came up to the window and watched Draco as he worked late into the night. He looked up when he finished his Potions paper and stroked the glass. The squid tried to nuzzle into it, and Draco decided, if he got the chance over the weekend, he'd go and visit the squid by the lake. Maybe bring Jess. She'd love it. He saw her that morning watching the window for the squid.

Draco sighed and put his head in his hands. The way Jess acted didn't seem like a prejudiced pure-blood, nothing like he was when he first came to Hogwarts. Was she even a pure-blood? If she wasn't, she had to be careful. Slytherin was very intent on blood lineage and purity.

HD

That morning, Jess finally got a taste of blood prejudice in the Slytherin House.

As Draco was walking down from his dorm, he heard angry little voices. He entered the common room, and saw Jess and the male first-year she was talking to last night glaring at each other.

"So what if I'm a Muggle-born? I'm still a witch! And I'll be a better witch than you ever will!" Jess screamed.

"You're a Mudblood! You're impure! You don't belong in our House!" the boy yelled at her.

"I'm not a Mudblood!" Jess looked like she was about to cry. "I'm a witch! I got my letter! I have my wand! I was sorted into this House! Don't tell me I'm not! Mr. Ollivander can prove I was at his shop! I AM NOT A MUDBLOOD!" Jess was in tears at this point. The boy pulled out his wand and Draco chose this moment to step in.

"Stop that right now," he snarled. The boy actually took a step back before he narrowed his face into a glare. "What do you think you're doing?"

"Putting a Mudblood in her place."

"She is not a Mudblood and I don't ever want to hear you say that word again, to her or to anyone. There is no such thing as blood superiority. She has been sorted in Slytherin. That means you are House-Mates, and that means she is just as worthy as you are. You have detention for the next week, starting tomorrow. I will make sure you are overseen. Now go to breakfast."

"And why should I follow a traitor?" the first-year sneered. Draco internally froze and narrowed his eyes.

"Because I'm a Prefect and here, you obey me."

The first-year just snarled, "You'll get your due when he's back," and stalked out.

Draco watched and made sure he recognized that twerp before turning to Jess and enveloping her in a hug. He stroked her red hair and murmured, "Would you like me to carry you to breakfast?" She nodded, hiccupping, tears still streaming. Draco picked her up and held her in his arms as he walked down to the Great Hall. He murmured comforting words to her the entire way.

They ran into the Golden Trio on the way to the Great Hall, discussing house-elf clothing (Draco decided he didn't want to know). Harry burst into a wide smile before seeing Jess and Draco's apparent anger. "Draco? What happened?"

"Little bastard called her a Mudblood," Draco growled. "I don't know who he is, but he's in a week of detention."

Hermione gasped; obviously she was remembering when Draco had called her a Mudblood in their second year. Ron and Harry just stared Jess, wide eyed. "Oh, you poor thing," Hermione crooned. She stroked Jess's hair and the little first-year looked up at her, recognition in her eyes. "Jess, would you like to go see Professor Snape so we can put that mean boy in detention?" Jess nodded, and Draco tightened his grip on her before making his way in, flashing Hermione a grateful smile.

He strode straight to the Professor's table, the Gryffindors right behind him. They stopped in front of the Slytherin Head of House and declared, "Professor, I'd like to talk to you."

Snape looked down and took in the scene in front of him. Hermione was stroking Jess's hair, Jess's tears were still flowing, Draco was seething, and Ron and Harry were glaring at the Slytherin table. "We'll go into my office," he slowly said before sweeping himself off his chair. "I'll have breakfast brought to us."

HD

Harry never thought in a million years this situation would ever happen.

He never thought he and Draco would be friends. He never thought that Draco would defend a Muggle-born. And he never thought that Snape would be comforting a first-year. As he looked at Jess, he came to the startling realization that she looked like the photos of his mother.

"Now," Snape droned as the five students ate, "what happened?"

Jess hiccupped before beginning, "Well, last night, at dinner, after Draco went upstairs to do homework, I started talking to Rodolphus. He was going on about how the Lestranges were the best family in the entire world and how he'd been named after his uncle, who was a Death Eater, and he wanted to follow in his footsteps. I asked why. He said because Muggles and Squibs and Muggle-borns were monsters of nature and he wanted a monster-free world. I said that people were still people, and even if Muggle-borns were related to Muggles, they were still witches and wizards. They could still do magic and he was an idiot to think otherwise. He then sneered and said, 'Oo, a Slytherin who sympathizes with monsters!' so I replied that he should learn more about a person before they make accusations. He then asked for my surname. It's Crawford. He realized it's a Muggle surname and he started calling me a Mudblood. I got upset so I left. He then started it again this morning, and I think he was about to hex me when Draco came in and gave him detention for a week."

"Lestrange…" Draco muttered before realizing, "Oh, that little—"

"Draco," Snape warned. "He is not related to you through blood, only marriage."

Jess stared up at him, wide-eyed. Draco wouldn't look her in the eye, and Harry could see the shame swimming in them.

"Jess, what's your first class?" Snape asked, staring down at her and offering her a biscuit. She took it before replying Defense Against the Dark Arts. "Miss Granger, would you kindly go to Professor Umbridge's office and tell him that Miss Crawford will not be in class and she has my permission to skip." Hermione squeezed Jess's hand before scurrying off. "Mr. Weasley, take Miss Crawford to Madam Pomfrey's office."

"C'mon, then, Jess. I don't bite," Ron grinned, taking her hand and leading her away.

Harry watched Draco, worried. Draco had his head in his hands.

"Draco," Snape drawled, "you cannot beat yourself up because of what Mr. Lestrange did."

"But I'm related to him, whether it's through blood or marriage!" Draco snapped. "I don't want her thinking of me like the rest of my family. I don't want anyone thinking of me that way." He was shaking, and Harry rested his hand on his shoulder, unsure of what he could do.

"Sit down, Mr. Potter," Snape ordered, and, for once, Harry did as he was told by the Professor. "Now it is my understanding that you both have detention with Professor Umbridge. I want Jess with you. I think it would be beneficial to her if one of you four is with her at all times. Draco would probably be the best choice, seeing as they're both in the same house. Now, you should keep an eye on Rodolphus; Draco, point him out next time you see him. It looks like Jess will need all the protection she can get for the moment." The teenage boys nodded. Snape gestured to their plates. "Finish your breakfast and go to class."

HD

Ron accidentally insulted Hermione's knitting skills when he said that her hats didn't look like hats on the way to double Charms. Draco, however, ignored them. He couldn't believe his uncle's brother had a kid. And now he was at Hogwarts… Well, his father was in Azkaban still. Right?

Double Charms and Double Transfiguration dragged. Both began with a lecture on how important their O. were. Draco couldn't concentrate; he still managed to make his snail vanish in Transfiguration.

He, having already written his Potions paper, went down to eat instead of going to the library. He picked Jess up on the way and made sure Rodolphus didn't cross them. Professor Snape had offered to watch over him during his detentions. Neither he nor Jess talked much. He was just waiting for her to ask why he knew the Lestranges.

She asked in the middle of lunch. "How are you related the Lestranges?"

He didn't look at her when he replied stonily, "My aunt married the uncle he's named after."

"Do… Do you agree with his views on Muggle-borns?"

Draco dropped his fork and stared at her. "No! I did, once, but I grew up. I'm a different person than I was when I first walked these halls. Notice how you're the only Slytherin I talk to? At least kindly." Jess nodded. "That's because they're share the same views as Rodolphus and my family. I finally got the courage to leave over the summer."

"Leave?"

"The Death Eaters. His father is in Azkaban because he was one. They were Voldemort's followers. They killed many, many people, wizards and muggles alike."

"What's Azkaban? Who's Voldemort?"

"Azkaban is the wizard prison. Voldemort was a Dark wizard, and is the worst wizard in wizarding history. Problem is, he's back. My father was there that night," he snapped, glaring into his pumpkin juice. "He's one of Voldemort's right-hand men. My mother isn't one, but she's a supporter. Auntie Bella and Rodolphus and Rabastan Lestrange are in Azkaban; Auntie Bella is a Voldemort fanatic. She's insane."

He looked over and he saw Jess nearly had tears in her eyes. "I'm so sorry," she whispered.

He raised an eyebrow. "For what?"

"That you and your family are separated."

Draco shrugged. "Well, it means Harry, Ron, Hermione, and I are friends. And I finally have the guts to stand up for what I believe in. Really, it's for the better. I've changed for the better."

Draco looked at his watch. "Damn, lunch is about to end, and I need to get my Care of Magical Creatures stuff… And you really shouldn't go to class by yourself, not when Rodolphus is around."

"I'll take her."

Draco looked and saw Ginny. She shrugged. "I forced Hermione to tell me why you carried her into breakfast this morning."

"Thanks, Ginny. See you later, Jess." He ruffled the teeny redhead's hair and sprinted out of the hall.

HD

He managed to catch up with his new friends halfway down to Hagrid's house, just in time to see Professor Grubbly-Plank staring up at them. "Everyone here? Let's crack on then. Who can tell me what these things are called?"

"Oooooh!" Parvati and Lavender murmured, much to Harry's obvious annoyance. Draco patted him on the back, and Harry nodded his head at him in response.

"Kindly keep your voices down, girls! So—anyone know the names of these creatures? Miss Granger?"

"Bowtruckles. They're tree-guardians, usually live in wand-trees."

"Five points for Gryffindor. Yes, these are Bowtruckles, and as Miss Granger rightly says, they generally live in trees whose wood is of wand quality. Anybody know what they eat?"

"Woodlice. But fairy eggs if they can get them."

"Good girl, take another five points. So, whenever you need leaves of wood from a tree in which a Bowtruckle lodges, it is wise to have a gift of woodlice ready to distract or placate it. They may not look dangerous, but if angered they will try to gouge at human eyes with their fingers, which, as you can see, are very shape and not at all desirable near the eyeballs. So if you'd like to gather closer, take a few woodlice and a Bowtruckle—I have enough here for one between three—you can study them more closely. I want a sketch from each of you with all body-parts labeled by the end of the lesson."

Draco nudged Harry, and the two made their way to Professor Grubbly-Plank, and Harry asked, "Where's Hagrid?"

"Never you mind," she snapped, which was what he said last time Hagrid hadn't been there.

"He's our teacher, we have a right to know," Draco murmured. Honestly, he knew Hagrid was probably somewhere Dumbledore had sent him, but he knew it was important for Harry to know.

Nott leaned over and whispered, "Maybe he's finally gone and got himself sacked."

"Oh, do you have courage now that you have people behind you? You'd never say anything like that before you coerced Crabbe and Goyle into following you," Draco snapped. "Get off, Nott." He gave him a little but forceful shove and went to go find people to work with.

He heard Hermione comforting Harry, and shoved Nott when he started to say something about Hagrid, and whispered, "You say anything about him one more time, I'll give you another detention for disrespecting a professor, so watch your mouth." Nott just glared at him and stalked off.

When the bell rang, he made his way back to the trio and heard Harry snapping at Hermione not to say that Professor Grubbly-Plank was a better teacher as they walked to the greenhouse and Herbology.

"I wasn't going to," she replied.

"Because she'll never be as good as Hagrid," he enforced, annoyed.

As they reached the doors, they saw Ginny come out, along with other fourth-years. "Hi," she greeted happily, and Draco noticed Luna was behind the rest of her class, obviously in her own little world until she noticed Harry, who she immediately made her way towards and declared, "I believe He Who Must Not Be Named is back and I believe you fought him and escaped from him."

"Er—right." Harry was obviously uncomfortable, probably because Luna was wearing orange radish earrings, which Lavender and Parvati were laughing at.

"You can laugh," Luna said rather loudly, "but people used to believe there were no such things as the Blibbering Humdinger or the Crumple-Horned Snorkack!"

Hermione interjected, annoyed, "Well, they were right, weren't they? There _weren't_ any such thing as the Blibbering Humdinger or the Crumple-Horned Snorkack."

Luna just glared at her and whirled away, and Draco pinched the bridge of his nose in annoyance as Harry turned to Hermione and asked, "D'you mind not offending the only people who believe me?"

"Oh, for heaven's sake, Harry, you can do better than _her_. Ginny's told me all about her; apparently she'll only believe in things as long as there's no proof at all. Well, I wouldn't expect anything else from someone whose father runs _The Quibbler_," Hermione replied.

Ernie Macmillan chose that moment to come up and say rather pompously, "I want you to know, Potter, that it's not only weirdos that support you. I personally believe you one hundred percent. My family has always stood firm behind Dumbledore, and so do I. And congratulations, Malfoy, for finally following your own path." And with that, he seemed to flounce off.

Malfoy grinned. Of course word had got around he'd left his family. And thank Merlin he had supporters. Even if they were Macmillan.

Herbology, of course, started with an OWL lecture. Draco was rather bored of these lectures. They were the same thing over and over.

At the end, Draco and Harry didn't even bother to go to their respective common rooms; detention was at five, and they didn't want to be late and they were just starving. Jess seemed to have been escorted by whichever teacher she'd last had, because she was already at the table. He smiled at her, asked how her day went, and scarfed down food. He ruffled her head at five to five, went to pick up Harry, and the two went to Umbridge's office, third floor.

Harry knocked, and the two heard a sweet voice bid them entrance. As they entered, Draco flinched. It was just so… girly.

"Good evening, Mr. Potter, Mr. Malfoy."

Draco nodded and murmured a "Good evening, Professor."

"Well, sit down." She gestured to a small table covered with lace, with two black pieces of parchment.

"Er. Professor Umbridge," Harry started. "Er—before we start, I—I wanted to ask you a… a favor."

She narrowed her eyes. "Oh, yes?"

"Well, I'm… I'm in the Gryffindor Quidditch team. And I was supposed to be at the tryouts for the new Keeper at five o'clock on Friday and I was—was wondering whether I could skip detention that night and do it—do it another night… instead…"

Draco's eyes widened. When were the Slytherins holding tryouts for the new Beaters?

"Oh, no," Umbridge smiled. "Oh, no, no, no. This is your punishment for spreading evil, nasty, attention-seeking stories, Mr. Potter, and punishments certainly cannot be adjusted to suit the guilty one's convenience. No, you will come here at five o'clock tomorrow, and the next day, and the next day, and on Friday too, and you will do your detentions as planned. I think it rather a good thing you are missing something you really want to do. It ought to reinforce the lesson I am trying to teach you."

Draco could practically feel the anger fumigating from Harry as the object of his secret affection sat into the chair opposite Draco.

"There, we're getting better at controlling our temper already, aren't we? Now, you are going to be doing some lines for me, dears. No, not with your quills," she said in a sugar-coated tone as the boys reached into their bags. "You're going to be using special ones of mine. Here you are."

She handed them each a black quill; Draco didn't see what was so special about it, but he took it anyway.

"I want you to write, _I must not tell lies._"

"How many times?" Harry practically sighed, making sure to keep his voice polite.

"Oh, as long as it takes for the message to _sink in_. Off you go."

"Professor, don't we need ink?" Draco asked, realizing what they didn't have.

"Oh, you won't need ink." The woman was practically laughing. The boys looked at each other, shrugged, and put their quills to the parchment and began to write.

Draco hissed in pain, and he heard Harry gasp. Red ink had appeared on the page where he had written, and the words had somehow been scratched onto his right hand. He watched, and willed it to heal itself, although he figured it was a fruitless attempt; he had to keep writing until this troll let them out.

For the first time, he was terrified of a teacher. If she was willing to do this to older students, what did she do to younger children?

Draco and Harry kept writing for, what seemed to Draco, like hours upon hours. Eventually, she told the two to come to her. Trying his best not to give the woman his absolute best death stare, Draco stalked over with Harry not far behind. He thrust his hand out at her, and Harry did the same. Both of the skin on their hands were red and raw, but they had healed.

"Tut, tut, I don't seem to have made much of an impression yet," she sweetly tsked. "Well, we'll just have to try again tomorrow evening, won't we? You may go."

The two left without a word, and Draco finally looked at his watch. It was one.

"Oh, Merlin, we didn't do any of our homework, so either we pull an all-nighter and sleep instead of eat breakfast, or we sleep and do homework instead of eat," Draco summarized. "I'll sleep at breakfast. I'd rather not fail."

"Well, I'm sleeping. See you later, Draco," said Harry as he yawned. He sprinted off in the direction of the Gryffindor tower, and Draco went the other way, keeping his bag close to him.

HD

Detention the next day was worse. Their skin reddened faster, and hurt even worse than the night before.

Draco was losing much sleep because of these detentions. He was staying up even later to finish his homework, and he snapped at Jess once. She understood, and brought him breakfast to the common room so he could sleep.

Each night was awful. He didn't know how much longer he would be able to handle it. He only had to make it till Friday.

Saturday was going to be the best sleep ever.


	7. Percy and Padfoot

**Hello, my wonderful readers/minions who will one day do my bidding!**

**For those of you that care, the play went very well. I was a prostitute! X'D Which is hilarious, because I'm a prude. I'll miss the seniors so much when they are in college… And then the next shows at my school will be my last. HOLY FUCK.**

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**Thank you for sticking with me, and read on, my minions!**

Draco woke up very late the next morning, which happened to be Saturday. He'd stayed up late finishing his homework so that he could sleep in and just enjoy the day. He glanced at the clock, smiled, and rolled over before his stomach growled. Groaning, he started to daydream about being back at Malfoy Manor and having the house-elves—

No. That was behind him. No more house-elves. No more Malfoy Manor. He would live at Grimmauld Place with Sirius from now on, and when the war was over, he would get up the courage to ask Harry out on a date, and maybe life would work in his favor.

Draco rolled out of bed and murmured, "_Accio_ jeans and sweater." Lazy, he knew, but when he was tired, Draco could afford to be lazy. As he dressed himself, he wondered whether Harry would be up. Would he have written to Sirius about what Umbridge was doing to the two of them?

As he meandered down to breakfast, he caught Harry's eye. Harry grinned and waved. Draco chuckled and saluted back, and tried to push the butterflies in his stomach down. He sat down next to Jess, who grinned up at him. He was grateful to Ron, Hermione, and Ginny, who had stayed with Jess and taken her to the Slytherin dormitory while Harry and Draco suffered through detention. She scooted a little closer to him, and he petted her on the head as he devoured eggs and bacon.

"Draco? Can we go down to the lake today? I wanna meet the squid," she shyly asked. He smiled down at her. "Sure. Are there any Slytherin first-years you want to ask, or have the all sided with Rodolphus?"

She thought for a moment. "Mary is my roommate. She might want to. She's often very lonely."

"Well, why don't you ask her, and I'll go talk to my friends," Draco suggested before ruffling her hair and downing his pumpkin juice.

"What's up, guys?" Draco asked as he stood over his Gryffindor friends.

"Sturgis Podmore's in Azkaban," Harry replied, shaking his head as Hermione folded up her newspaper. Draco tuned her out as she started going on about homework; he'd done it all the night before. He startled himself out of is reverie as he noticed Harry and Ron walking off, and Hermione nudged him gently. He looked back at her and smiled softly.

"Are you going to make a move?" she murmured as he pointed her to the Slytherin table.

"No. He's interested in Cho," he spat. "Did you see the way he looked when Cho was around? He'll never look like that around me," he whispered, his voice breaking. He ignored Hermione's pitying stare, trying his hardest not to show his watery eyes.

Hermione left him as he picked up Jess and Mary, a timid, mousey little girl who he was rather surprised was in Slytherin. He let the two girls chatter away to themselves, following behind them, deep in his thoughts.

Was he right to think he would never have a chance with Harry? He'd seen Harry's expression when Cho was around. Harry was straight. He'd never looked like that towards a boy, and never him. Hell, he'd only actually started talking to him in a cordial way this year! He was a fool to think Harry would ever have a crush on him.

The day passed rather slowly. He was rather glad that the squid entertained the girls, as it recognized both him and Jess; it left him some time to himself. He closed his eyes and slowly sank into a nap.

_Draco blinked his eyes open and was shocked to see himself back in the garden of Malfoy Manor. He slowly sat up and looked around, curious._

_ "Draco!"_

_ He looked to his right to see Harry flying over towards him, concerned. "Draco, are you okay?!"_

_ Surprisingly, Draco found himself saying, "Better, now you're here."_

_ Harry grinned at him. "Who would have thought you'd be the sap?" Draco just shrugged. Harry rolled his eyes and stepped off his Firebolt. He bent down and leaned in, and Draco found himself eagerly leaning in…_

"MARY!"

Jess's scream woke him up, and he blearily blinked his eyes open. They widened as he saw Mary levitating in the air. He looked to his right to see Rodolpus Lestrange laughing and pointing his wand, obviously using _Wingardium Leviosa_. Anger coursed through him, and he rushed over to Rodolphus, who looked at him and his smile faltered for a moment. He dropped the spell, and Draco raced over to Mary, diving to catch her, which he managed to do. Jess hurried over and hugged her as Draco turned on the little first-year. "You. Little. Punk. How DARE you do that, especially to your own housemate! What was going on in your little head?!"

"Don't blame the kid, Malfoy," a sniveling voice called. Draco turned, and his gaze hardened as Nott, Crabbe, and Goyle strutting over. "I paid him," Nott sneered.

"Why?" was all Draco could summon.

"Well," he replied, picking at a piece of grass in his hand, "seeing as you're a traitor, and that little Jess is a Mudblood, I thought little Miss Mary needed a little, ah, wakeup call."

Anger boiled in Draco's blood. He was so tempted to whip out his wand and curse Nott with the Cruciatus curse. He reached into his pocket and gripped his wand, but a warm hand on his shoulder startled him. He glanced back to see Harry looking warningly at him. Ron walked forward, glaring at the trio plus pipsqueak. "Okay. Now seeing as how Draco can't speak he's so angry, I guess I'll finally use my power as a Prefect. Detention for all four of you, for two weeks. C'mon, guys, let's go."

Harry leaned into Draco's ear, whispered, "C'mon, I know a place where you can take your anger out," and tugged on his arm. Draco nudged Jess and Mary, and Jess looked up at him and nodded. She led Mary over to Ron, who ruffled Jess's hair before leading them off.

Harry and Draco walked over to the Qudditch pitch, and Harry murumured, "_Accio_ Draco's broom."

Draco's Nimbus 2001 shot out of the castle a few moments later, and Draco grabbed it, relishing the feeling of the broom underneath his fingertips. He grinned, and looked back to see Harry mounting his broom. "I'll race you!" the boy called, flying off.

"Hey, that's so totally unfair!" Draco called after him, laughing. He mounted his broom and chased after him, laughing. And for a few minutes, he forgot about his troubles.


	8. The Hogwarts High Inquistor

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Draco sighed as he sat down to breakfast Monday. He hadn't slept well the two nights before, thinking too much about flying around with Harry on Saturday.

He was a bit surprised when Jess thrust the _Daily Prophet_ into his hands. "There's some man named Percy Weasley in there. Is that Ron's brother?" she asked. Draco's eyes widened as she pointed to the article. He snatched it from her and anxiously read:

_MINISTRY SEEKS EDUCATIONAL REFORM_

_DOLORES UMBRIDGE APPOINTED_

_FIRST EVER HIGH INQUISTOR_

"What?" he muttered to himself before reading the rest, which to sum it up, said that if Dumbledore couldn't provide a teacher for a post, the Ministry would (hence where Umbridge came in), that Umbridge was going to inspect every teacher of the school and determine if they were fit to teach at Hogwarts, and his father (of course) supported it, and even mentioned hoping that soon it would help control certain students.

"Those gits," he growled, throwing the paper onto the table in disgust. Jess hugged him before Mary arrived and gave the two a smile. The first-years hurried off to class and Draco joined his friends, fuming. "Did you _see_ what my father said?" he demanded. "He was obviously referencing me and how I left the family." He was still muttering under his breath when they arrived at History of Magic, not realizing that his friends were looking bewildered at his anger. He didn't see Harry whisper into Hermione's ear, who in turn nodded.

The class was uneventful, as usual, but Draco had barely paid attention, and Hermione snuck her notes into his hands and he nodded to her, making a note to copy them down and give them back to her by the end of lunch. "Harry figured you wouldn't be able to pay attention to class today," she murmured into his ear. Draco smiled, and nudged Harry, who grinned back.

Potions made Draco instantly feel better, especially seeing that he had earned an "O" on his moonstone essay. "I have awarded you the grades you would have received if you presented this work in your OWL," Snape smirked. "This should give you a realistic idea of what to expect in the examination. The general standard of this homework was abysmal. Most of you would have failed had this been your examination. I expect to see a great deal more effort for this week's essay on the various varieties of venom antidotes, or I shall have to start handing out detentions to those dunces who get a 'D'."

Draco sniggered and whispered, he thought to himself, "Some people got a '_D_'? Ha!" But then he caught the look on Harry's face and he saw Snape's smirk and quickly whispered in Harry's ear, "I'll help you?" and gained a grateful look as his affection slid his essay into his bag so that no one else would see it. The two worked together, Draco helping Harry to this best of his ability, on their Strengthening Solutions. Hermione and Draco had their potions turquoise, and thankfully Harry's was blue, unlike Neville's pink.

"Well, that wasn't as bad as last week, was it? And the homework didn't go too badly either, did it?" Hermione questioned.

None of the three answered, Draco feeling guilty for his harsh comment, and she hastened to say, "I mean, all right, I didn't expect the top grade, not if he's marking to OWL standard, but a pass is quite encouraging at this stage, wouldn't you say?" Ignoring Harry's little noise, she continued, "Of course, a lot can happen…" and Draco had to break away to move towards to the Slytherin table. Jess was consumed in a conversation with Mary about the upcoming flying lesson, but gave Draco a grand smile as he sat down. He set to work copying down Hermione's notes from History of Magic as he ate his roll, being careful not to spill any crumbs on it.

He walked over to the Gryffindor table to give Hermione her notes and to walk with Ron, Harry, and Neville up to Divination as George was saying to Harry, "Angelina'll do her nut if you miss any more Quidditch practices. Hello, Draco. Have you had any Quidditch practices yet?"

"A few, but it hasn't gone that well. Crabbe and Goyle are our beaters this year, and Crabbe keeps aiming at me," Draco shrugged. Harry gave him a sympathizing look, and the quartet of boys collected their books and walked up to the Divination room.

Neville and Draco had just sat down and began to pull out their dream diaries when Umbridge came in through the trapdoor in the floor, and the room fell silent. Professor Trelawney stopped handing out _The Dream Oracle_ and looked at her.

"Good afternoon, Professor Trelawney. You received my note, I trust? Giving the time and date of your inspection?" Umbridge smiled widely.

Trelawney nodded rather sharply and went back to handing out the copies. Umbridge pulled an armchair to just behind Trelawney's seat and extracted a clipboard from her flowery bag and waited for class to begin.

Trelawney nervously declared, "We shall be continuing our study of prophetic dreams today. Divide into pairs, please, and interpret each other's latest night-time visions with the aid of the _Oracle_." She went to go back to her seat, but seeing Umbridge, immediately moved to Parvati and Lavender.

Draco and Neville exchanged looks, and Neville immediately said, "We can use my dream."

"Great, thanks," Draco smiled. Draco had immediately told Neville on Day One that he had to whisper his dreams and the reasoning behind it, and today was not the day to use a dream about Harry.

"Alright, so last night, I dreamed my parents were walking in a field, and I was watching. Not eventful, but that's what I dreamed."  
"Okay, so add the number of letters of 'my parents', which would be eight, to yesterday's date," Draco murmured, looking at the _Dream Oracle_ as he scratched down his calculations. He glanced up, noticing Trelawney and Umbridge were at the next table a row below them.

"Now, you've been in this post how long, exactly?" Umbridge inquired.

Trelawney, scowling and crossing her arms, answered after a delay, "Nearly sixteen years."

"Quite a period. So it was Professor Dumbledore who appointed you?"

"That's right."

"And you are a great-great-granddaughter of the celebrated Seer Cassandra Trelawney?"

"Yes," was the proud reply.

"But I think—correct me if I'm mistake—that you are the first in your family since Cassandra to be possessed of the Second Sight?"

"These things often skip—er—three generations."

The notes on the clipboard stopped as the toad gave a sweet smile. "Of course. Well, if you could just predict something for me, then?" and looked enquiringly up at the other lady.

Stiffening, Trelawney unbelievingly said as she clutched her shawl, "I don't understand you."

"I'd like you to make a prediction for me," Umbridge clearly stated.

Draco and Neville shared glances with each other as they awaited Trelawney's answer, as the majority of the class did. She stood up tall and cried, "The Inner Eye does not See upon command!"

"I see," was the response as she wrote on her clipboard.

"I—but—but… _wait_!" Trelawney forcefully tried to use her mythical voice, although it trembled angrily. "I… I think I _do_ see something… something that concerns _you_… why, I sense something… something _dark_… some grave peril…"

Pointing a shaking finger at her coworker with the bland smile and raised eyebrows, she finished dramatically, "I am afraid… I am afraid that you are in grave danger!"

A pause as the class anxiously waited. "Right," Umbridge softly responded. "Well, if that's really the best you can do…"

She turned, heading for the door. Trelawney just stood in her place, her chest heaving. Draco felt a twang of pity for the fraud. No one should have had to go through what she just did.

That pity went away when she swooped down onto Harry and Ron and foretold multiple awful early deaths for Harry, with Umbridge watching and making notes on her clipboard for the entirety of the time. She was the first to leave when the bell rang and was sitting waiting for them all when they entered Defense Against the Dark Arts.

The trio of Harry, Ron, and Draco were telling Hermione about the occurrences of Divination, but before she could ask questions, the class started.

"Wands away. As we finished Chapter One last lesson, I would like you all to turn to page nineteen today and commence 'Chapter Two, Common Defense Theories and their Derivation.' There will be no need to talk."

Everyone but Hermione pulled their books out of their bags. Hermione had her hand up in the air. Umbridge, with an apparently new strategy, walked around the front row of desks until they were face to face, then bent down and whispered so no one else could hear their exchange, "What is it this time, Miss Granger?"

"I've already read Chapter Two."

"Well, then, proceed to Chapter Three."

"I've read that too. I've read the whole book."

The elder blinked, but recovered quickly. "Well, then, you should be able to tell me what Slinkard says about counter-jinxes in Chapter Fifteen."

"He says that counter-jinxes are improperly named. He says 'counter-jinx' is just a name people give their jinxes when they want to make them sound more acceptable."

Impressed, Umbridge raised her eyebrows until Hermione said, "But I disagree."

They went up higher, but the gaze turned cold. "You disagree?"

"Yes, I do." Her voice was clear unlike Umbridge's. "Mr. Slinkhard doesn't like jinxes, does she? But I think they can be very useful when they're used defensively."

"Oh, you do, do you?" Umbridge was no longer whispering. "Well, I'm afraid it is Mr. Slinkhard's opinion, and not yours, that matters within this classroom, Miss Granger."

"But—"

"That is enough." Walking back to the front of the room, she declared, "Miss Granger, I am going to take five points from Gryffindor house."

Angry mutters broke out, including Harry's louder, "What for?"

"Don't you get involved!" both Hermione and Draco hissed.

"For disrupting my class with pointless interruptions. I am here to teach you using Ministry-approved method that does not include inviting students to give their opinions on matters about which they understand very little. Your previous teachers in this subject may have allowed you more license, but none of them—with the possible exception of Professor Quirrell, who did at least appear to have restricted himself to age-appropriate subjects—would have passed a Ministry inspection—"

"Yeah, Quirrell was a great teacher, there was just that minor drawback of him having Lord Voldemort sticking out the back of his head."

What followed was the loudest silences Draco had experienced until Umbridge said, "I think another week's detentions would do you some good, Mr. Potter."

HWBM

Draco stayed up and hid under Harry's Invisibility Cloak with a first aid kit that night, but fell asleep before Harry got out. Harry knew where he was, snuck under, and gently woke him up.

"Are you sure you want to do this, Draco?" he whispered as Draco groggily woke up. "I or Hermione can wrap up my hand."

"S'fine," Draco replied as he reached for the gauze. "You'd do the same for me, right?" Harry just gave him a smile. Draco was so tempted to kiss him at that moment, but managed to restrain himself.

He felt awful the next morning as Angelina Johnson yelled at Harry in the middle of the Great Hall. Jess curiously looked up. "What happened?"

"Harry got another week's worth of detention with Umbridge. Angelina is the Quidditch captain of the Gryffindor team, and Harry's Seeker," Draco explained as he dug into his eggs.

Jess looked up at him. "What's Quidditch?"

Draco looked at her, before remembering she was a Muggle-born. "It's the wizarding sport. There are seven players to a team, and they all fly on broomsticks…"

He spent the entirety of breakfast explaining Quidditch to her, while ignoring Fudge on the front page of his newspaper.

He noted that Harry didn't speak to Hermione throughout Charms, but didn't think much of it. When Transfiguration came around, he noted Umbridge was sitting in a corner, clipboard in hand.

"Excellent. Let's see Umbridge get what she deserves," Ron whispered as the quartet sat down. Draco snickered, looking forward to the class a whole lot more.

McGonagall strode in, not acknowledging Umbridge in the slightest.

"That will do. Mr. Finnigan, kindly come here and hand back the homework—Miss Brown, please take this box of mice—don't be silly, girl, they won't hurt you—and hand one to each student—"

"_Hem, hem._"

McGonagall ignored her as Seamus handed back the essays. Draco, much to his surprise, had managed an E. He grinned; better than a D.

"Right then, everyone, listen closely—Dean Thomas, if you do that to the mouse again I shall put you in detention-most of you have now successfully Vanished your snails and even those who were left with a certain amount of shell have got the gist of the spell. Today, we shall be—"

"_Hem, hem_."

"_Yes?_" McGonagall finally acknowledged Umbridge, her eyebrows almost forming a unibrow.

"I was just wondering, Professor, whether you received my note telling you the date and time of your inspect—"

"Obviously I received it, or I would have asked you what you are doing in my classroom." Turning her back on the other woman, she continued to the class, "As I was saying: today, we shall be practicing the altogether more difficult Vanishment of mice. Now, the Vanishing Spell—"

"_Hem, hem._"

"I wonder," McGonagall coldly and furiously turned, "how you expect to gain an idea of my usual teaching methods if you continue to interrupt me? You see, I do not generally permit people to talk when I am talking."

There were no more interruptions after that, just the scribbling of quill on parchment.

"As I was saying: the Vanishing Spell becomes more difficult with the complexity of the animal to be Vanished. The snail, as an invertebrate, does not present much of a challenge; the mouse, as a mammal, offers a much greater one. This is not, therefore, magic you can accomplish with your mind on your dinner. So—you know the incantation, let me see what you can do…"

"How can she lecture me about not losing my temper with Umbridge!" Harry muttered to Ron and Draco, but Draco noticed the grin on his face.

The class went relatively uneventfully; Umbridge stuck to her corner, making notes.

As the class filed out at the end, Harry nudged Draco and pointed to Umbridge, who was making her way up to McGonagall. The two of them notified Hermione and Ron, and the quartet fell back, wanting to watch.

"How long have you been teaching at Hogwarts?" Umbridge inquired.

"Thirty-nine years this December." The snap of a shutting bag.

A note on her clipboard. "Very well, you will receive the results of your inspection in ten days' time."

"I can hardly wait," McGonagall drawled. "Hurry up, you four."

Draco was surprised to see Umbridge as the quartet made their way to Care of Magical Creatures.

"You do not usually take this class, is that correct?" Umbridge was asking Grubbly-Plank. It was an odd sight to see Umbridge by a cage of Bowtruckles scrounging around for woodlice.

"Quite correct. I am a substitute standing in for Professor Hagrid," Grubbly-Plank responded, bouncing on the balls of her feet with her hands clasped behind her back.

Draco looked sideways to Nott, Crabbe, and Goyle; he wasn't sure if the three would tell on Hagrid or not; Nott had never been very fond of Hagrid, it was sure, but he hadn't hated Hagrid either. Not like Draco had pretended to.

"Hmm." Dropping her voice, Umbridge inquired, "I wonder—the Headmaster seems strangely reluctant to give me any information on the matter—can _you_ tell me what is causing Professor Hagrid's very extended leave of absence?"

Draco perked up, and nudged Harry.

"'Fraid I can't. Don't know anything more than you do. Got an owl from Dumbledore, would I like a couple weeks' teaching work. I accepted. That's as much as I know. Well… shall I get started then?"

"Yes, please do," Umbridge replied, scribbling down her notes. She proceeded to question the students about magical creatures, and most were able to answer very well, which Draco knew would please Harry.

"Overall," Umbridge asked Grubbly-Plank, "how do you, as a temporary member of staff—an objective outsider, I suppose you might say—how do you find Hogwarts? Do you feel you receive enough support from the school management?"

"Oh, yes, Dumbledore's excellent. Yes, I'm very happy with the way things are run, very happy indeed," was the avid response.

Umbridge, with an incredulous look on her face, made yet another note and asked, "And what are you planning to cover with the class this year—assuming, of course, that Professor Hagrid does not return?"

"Oh, I'll take them through the creatures that most often come up in OWL. Not much left to do—they've studied unicorns and Nifflers, I thought we'd cover Porlocks and Kneazles, make sure they can recognize Crups and Knarls, you know…"

"Well, _you_ seem to know what you're doing, at any rate." Turning to Goyle, she asked, "Now, I hear there have been injuries in this class?"

Goyle uncertainly pointed to Draco, who responded, "It was an accident that was totally and completely my fault. I was a fool who didn't listen to the directions that Professor Hagrid gave to us."

"And what creature was it that attacked you?" Umbridge inquired, making notes.

"The Hippogriff didn't attack him! Were you not listening to him?!" Harry angrily growled

Ron, Hermione, and Draco groaned. Umbridge slowly turned her head towards Harry and whispered, "Another night's detention, I think." Turning to Grubbly-Plank, she said, "Well, thank you very much, Professor Grubbly-Plank, I think that's all I need here. You will be receiving the results of your inspection within ten days."

"Jolly good," she said, and Umbridge strode back towards the castle.

HWBM

Draco was grateful, and he was sure Harry was as well, that he had hidden underneath the cloak that night. The blood was staining the scarf Harry was wearing over his hand. "Merlin, Harry, you need to learn to control your temper if you don't want to die of blood loss," he whispered as he wrapped the gauze around the wound.

"S'not that bad, Draco," he tried to protest.

"Not that bad? Harry, what on earth do you think makes this 'not that bad'?"

"Erm… I'm not dead?"

Draco just laughed as he finished up. "There you go. Promise you'll at least try not to lose your temper with Umbridge?"

"I'll try." The two stood up and Harry escorted Draco back to the Slytherin common room. "Thanks, Draco."

Draco turned and looked back at him. "For?"

"This." Harry held up his hand. "Leaving your parents and the Death Eaters behind. Proving not all Slytherins are bad." That earned a laugh from Draco. "Well, night."

"Night, Harry." And with that, Draco whispered the password and entered the common room.

HWBM

Harry watched as Draco entered the Slytherin common room and wrapped his cloak around himself and strode to the Gryffindor tower. It was strange, he mused, not for the first time, how a year ago he hated Draco, and now the two of them were incredibly close. Yes, sometimes he wondered whether or not Draco was under orders from Voldemort, but he always banished the thought from his mind. Everyone else trusted him, even Dumbledore.

He wondered vaguely whether or not Ron or Hermione knew the reason why Draco had had a change of heart, but whenever he'd asked, the two of them shrugged their shoulders and made noncommittal noises in their throats. Ginny had said she had no idea, and the twins had said the same.

He closed his eyes, thinking about the morning they had made breakfast for the Order…

_"No, don't beat them to a pulp! You've got to be gentle!" Draco groaned as Harry failed at making scrambled eggs. "I thought you cooked in that Muggle house you lived in."_

_ "Yeah, for three other people. Not for… How many are we making these for?" Harry protested. It was true, you'd think he wouldn't be failing as miserably as he was, but he was managing to._

_ "Oh, at least ten people," Draco nonchalantly replied, grinning as he watched the tomatoes and the sausages._

_ "_TEN _people?!"_

_ "Well, yes. There's you, me, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, Fred and George, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Sirius… Oh, and sometimes Kreacher, but he won't take anything Mrs. Weasley touches. Sometimes Tonks comes 'round, and Mad Eye, and they both stayed the night, so I'd say we're cooking for twelve today. Well, c'mon, let's get to it!"_

_ "What the bloody hell happened to Draco Lucius Malfoy, the git I knew at the end of the school year?" Harry warily asked. Sure, he liked this new Draco, but he was a bit… Well, thrown off._

_ Draco turned serious and looked Harry dead in the eye. "He was only real on that first day we met."_

After that, the two had been almost inseparable. Dumbledore had changed Draco's classes around so that when Draco had to be with the Slytherins, he was always with another class, so that way none of them could attempt to harm him in between classes.

Harry knew Draco appreciated that; he knew Draco was secretly terrified of sleeping in his dorms. If Snape and McGonagall hadn't protested when Harry proposed it, Draco would be sleeping with the Gryffindors. Draco didn't know about it; Harry hadn't wanted to get his hopes up. He'd written to the three professors over the summer, after he'd been cleared. Dumbledore had just said it was up to McGonagall and Snape, and the two were not pleased with the idea. And so, he never told Draco, or Ron or Hermione for that matter.

He understood why they said no, though; it would be separating Draco from his proper house, and so would go against the social norm. Switching his classes was enough, they'd said.

At least Draco has Jess, Harry thought as he entered the common room to see Ron and Hermione waiting for him.


	9. The Hog's Head

**And we're back! I'm really sorry I ditched you guys; will school be a good enough explanation?** **Anyway, thanks to AwesomeReaderAndWriter 357, pyroalec22, Silvereyes11, adrikins319, faxondancer3, Grim Tealeaves, poisonivy1123, Konoashinobi07, Kougalover123, Darknessthorn, rb7277, sodalover123, LTheCookieMonster, dracomalfoylover666, masonxoxo, BiffyClyro, and angelforbesmarch for favoriting; SuperheroSIB, Tempete Sanguine, pyroalec22, Xxx The Black Iris xxX, PotterMalfoygirl, Katcarrier15, Make Life take the Lemons BACK, faxondancer3, ParseltongueSpeaker, David-El, poisonivy1123, mylullabydelwiess, Konohashinobi07, Kougalover123, fire eturnal, M. Truth, rv7277, sodalover123, dracomalfoylover666, goddessofdawn369, elloitsstephaniee, masonxoxo, emilyjospeh2, and falgunibose for follwiong; pyroalec22 for favoriting ME; and to my reviewers:**

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**I sadly don't own HP, just my edits to the plot. Read on, my minions!  
**

The next day involved Draco listening to Harry worry about the request Hermione and Ron had made of him he night before. "How on Earth am I supposed to teach them Defense Against the Dark Arts?" he demanded of Draco.

"Well, what makes you think you can't? You're the only one who can produce a Patronus, you're the best at the class… You're the most qualified to," was Draco's response. Well, the Patronus bit was a lie, but Draco didn't need Harry knowing that.

That made Harry quiet up and go into deep thought, and it was the last time the subject was brought up for another two weeks, when Harry had finished his detentions with Umbridge. Four more Qudditch practices for the Gryffindor team had occurred, and each of them had gone on to Vanishing mice (well, except for Hermione, she had progressed to kittens). September was ending, and the quartet were looking up potion ingredients for Snape.

"I was wondering," Hermione broached, "whether you'd thought any more about Defence Against the Darks Arts, Harry."

"'Course I have, can't forget it, can we, with that hag teaching us—"

"I don't think that's the Defence she's talking about," Draco interrupted, not looking up from his book. Harry didn't immediately answer. He eventually replied slowly, "Well, yeah, I—I've thought about it a bit."

"And?" Hermione asked, eager.

"I dunno," Harry replied. Draco hid a smirk; he guessed Harry wanted to do it, but didn't want them to know yet.

"I thought it was a good idea from the start," said Ron.

"You did listen to what I said about a load of it being luck, didn't you?" Harry questioned.

"Yes, Harry, but all the same, there's no point pretending that you're not good at Defence Against the Dark Arts, because you are. You were the only person last year who could throw off the Imperius Curse completely, you can produce a Patronus—"

"Draco can," Ron interrupted. Draco froze in his seat. How did he know that? He looked up to see Hermione and Harry staring at Ron. "Draco can do it," Ron insisted. "I saw him at Grimmauld Place earlier this summer."

Harry turned to Draco and said, "You told me you couldn't."

Draco glared at Ron and muttered, "Thanks, Weasel." He turned to Harry and said, "Yes, I lied because I knew it would get you to start actually considering teaching. I can produce a Patronus. Now just teach the class already so we can actually work."

Harry looked at Draco for a moment longer and said, "What else have you lied about?"

Draco looked Harry dead in the eye. "Just that. Promise."

"Well, what do you think?" Hermione interrupted, not wanting a fight to break out in between the two. "Will you teach us?"

"Just you, Ron, and Draco, yeah?"

"Well. Well… now, don't fly off the handle again, Harry, please… but I really think you ought to teach anyone who wants to learn. I mean, we're talking about defending ourselves against V-Voldemort. Oh, don't be pathetic, Ron. It doesn't seem fair if we don't offer the chance to other people."

"Yeah, but I doubt anyone other than you three would want to be taught by me. I'm a nutter, remember?"

"Well, I think you might be surprised by how many people would be interested in hearing what you've got to say. Look," Hermione replied, leaning in, which caused Draco and Ron to, as well, "you know the first weekend in October's a Hogsmeade weekend? How would it be if we tell anyone who's interested to meet us in the village and we can talk it over?"

"Why do we have to do it outside of school?" Ron demanded.

"Ron, think for a moment of Umbridge's reaction if she found out," Draco replied. Ron scrunched his face up and went back to his book.

HWBM

Harry was worried, and Draco knew it. He could see it in the way he held himself. While Harry was excited for Hogsmeade, he worried that Sirius was going to come. Ron and Hermione kept comforting him and reassuring him Sirius wasn't that stupid. Eventually, Draco slapped him upside the head and told him to get a grip, Potter, Sirius isn't going to come. You're not the only one who warned him against it.

The first Hogsmeade day was bright but windy, so Draco dressed warmly. After breakfast, he joined the Golden Trio to queue in front of Filch, who sniffed Harry and forced Harry to tell the story of how someone tipped Filch off that he was ordering Dungbombs while he was sending a letter to Sirius, which Hermione found interesting. She then revealed they were all meeting in the Hog's Head.

They walked down the main street, past Zonko's, the post office, and turned up a side street to reach the Hog's Head. They hesitated to go in; the only thought in Draco's head was that this was the sketchiest place he'd ever seen.

"Well, come on," Hermione urged, albeit nervously.

It was just as sketchy on the inside as it was on the outside, and their customers were just as bad.

"I don't know about this, Hermione," Harry whispered as they made their way to the bar. "Has it occurred to you that Umbridge might be under that veil?"

"Umbridge is shorter than that woman. And anyway, even if Umbridge does come in here there's nothing she can do to stop us, Harry, because I've doubled- and triple-checked the school rules. We're not out of bounds; I specifically asked Professor Flitwick whether students were allowed to come in the Hog's Head, and he said yes, but he advised me strongly to bring our own glasses. And I've looked up everything I can think of about study groups and homework groups and they're definitely allowed. I just don't think it's a good idea if we _parade _what we're doing."

"Well, it's not a study group or homework group you've arranged, now, is it?" Draco scoffed. He turned to the bartender and ordered four Butterbeers and paid. "What are you looking at?" he barked as the man stared at Harry's scar before hurrying off.

"Thanks," Harry muttered as Draco handed him a Butterbeer.

"You know what"? Ron realized. "We could order anything we liked in here. I bet that bloke would sell us anything, he wouldn't care. I've always wanted to try Firewhiskey—"

"You—are—a—_prefect_," Hermione growled.

"Oh," Ron groaned. "Yeah…"

"So, who did you say is supposed to be meeting us?" Harry asked as he took a swig.

"Just a couple of people," Hermione replied, checking her watch. "I told them to be here about now and I'm sure they all know where it is—oh, look, that might be them now."

The pub door had opened, and in came:

Neville, Dean, Lavender

Parvati and Padma Patil with Cho and a girl named Marietta Edgecomb

Luna Lovegood

Katie Bell, Alicia Spinnet, Angelina Johnson

Colin and Dennis Creevey

Ernie Macmillan, Justin Finch-Fletchley, Hannah Abbot, and Susan Bones

Anthony Goldstein, Michael Corner, Terry Boot (Ravenclaw)

Ginny and Zacharias Smith

Fred, George, and Lee Jordan

So in total: 25 people.

"A couple of people? _A couple of people?_" Harry hoarsely asked.

"Yes, well, the idea seemed quite popular," Hermione happily smiled. "Ron, Draco, pull up some more chairs, will you?"

The bartender was quite shocked as Fred went up to the bar and said, "Hi, could we have… twenty-five Butterbeers, please?" After a glare, the bartender threw his rag down and brought them up. "Cheers. Cough up, everyone, I haven't got enough gold for all of these…"

Draco tuned everyone out, not really paying attention until he heard Smith say, "And what about _him?_"

Draco snapped his eyes up and stared at him. He held up his hand when he noticed Fred and George actually starting to get up and had their wands out. "It's alright, boys. I'm sure there's more than just him curious about me." He kept his eyes, however, on Smith. "So what about me? Well, would it satisfy you to say I had a change of heart at the end of the Triwizard Tournament last year? Or do I have to give you my entire back-story?"

Neville piped up, "Well, you haven't given the full story…" Draco whipped his head to look at him and Neville winked, and Draco suddenly realized what he was saying.

"Alright," he declared standing up and ignoring Ron and Hermione's alarmed looks. "I stopped agreeing with my father about the Dark Arts a few years ago, and at the end of the year, just after Cedric Diggory was killed, got a letter from him saying _he_ was back. I grew terrified. I'd had arguments with my father during Easter break last year, and I knew my father would tell him about it. I flew straight to Dumbledore, and he made arrangements for me to stay with the Weasley's. Happy?" All of this was actually true, he wasn't making this up. Except for staying with the Weasley's. After he gave his story, people started signing the parchment Hermione had. "You managed to convince everyone you're not a nutter, then?" he whispered to Harry.

"Were you not paying attention?" Harry hissed back as Ernie and Zacharias hesitated to sign. Draco raised his eyebrow at him, and Harry sighed, "You were that confident you didn't feel the need to even listen and hear how it went down?" Draco just sipped his Butterbeer, just watched as Cho made a show of fastening her bag before Marietta became too angry.

"Well, I think that went quite well," Hermione grinned as the four made their way out after everyone had left.

"That Zacharias bloke's a wart," Ron noted, glowering after him in the distance.

"I don't like him much, either, but he overheard me talking to Ernie and Hannah at the Hufflepuff table, and he seemed really interested in coming, so what could I say?" admitted Hermione. "But the more people the better really—I mean, Michael Corner and his friends wouldn't have come in he hadn't been going out with Ginny—"

Ron gagged on his Butterbeer and it sprayed onto his front. "He's WHAT? She's going out with—my sister's going—what d'you mean, Michael Corner?"

"Well, that's why he and his friends came, I think—well, they're obviously interested in learning defence, but if Ginny hadn't told Michael what was going on—"

"When did this—when did she—?"

"They met at the Yule Ball and got together at the end of last year," Hermione replied and stopped in her tracks in front of Scrivenshaft's Quill Shop. "Hmm… I could do with a new quill." She went in, and Harry and Ron followed. Draco decided to stay outside. He held his face in his hands and thought about how last year he would have relished the chance to use this opportunity to get Harry in trouble, and this year he was partaking in it. He smiled; Harry had proved to do some good to him.

Someone stopped in front of him, and he looked up to see Professor Dumbledore in front of him. "Hello, Draco," he smiled.

Draco stood up quickly and said, "Hello, Professor. Is everything alright?"

"Would you walk with me?" Dumbledore gestured with his arm to the castle. Draco looked at the shop, and Dumbledore replied, "They will understand." Draco moved next to the Headmaster and the two walked at a leisurely pace. "Draco, I'm sure you are aware that your father and mother know you are back at Hogwarts."

"Yes, Professor. Is it also safe to assume that they know I was with, erm, Snuffles this summer?"

Dumbledore nodded. "Draco, you must listen to what I say carefully. Come with me to my office; it is more… private, shall we say?"

They walked in silence towards the Headmaster's office, and Dumbledore whispered the password. They made their way in, and Draco went straight to a seat in front of his desk. "What's going on, Professor?" he asked as soon as Dumbledore sat in his chair.

He didn't answer right away, just played with the wrapper on a sweet. After popping it in his mouth, he replied, "I know you and your friends are planning on making a club in order to learn Defense and teach it." Draco's eyes widened, and started to make an excuse, but the hand was held up. "I think, personally, it is foolhardy, but worthwhile. However, this is not what I intend to speak to you about. I know you are aware your father is still looking for a way to bring you back to him; he speaks to Professor Umbridge about it quite regularly. The Ministry is after both of us, I am afraid." He stood up and started to walk about the room. "Draco, I have a plan for the both of us should the Ministry—namely, Cornelius and Dolores. Just know that you will be here, and I will be sure of that. Either that, or Professor Snape will come and retrieve you. Just know that you will be safe and I will ensure that no peril comes to you. Do you understand that?"

"Completely, sir."

Dumbledore gave him a smile. "Go on, off you go. Go enjoy your day off," he ordered, waving him away. Draco smiled back, bowed slightly, and walked out of the room.


	10. Educational Decree Dumbledore's Army

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As Sunday came along, Draco could not stop thinking about what Dumbledore had said to him. What did he mean by it? What was going to happen to the two of them? And was it really so bad that Dumbledore wanted to take Harry away from him? He stayed in his dormitory for the entirety of Sunday, turning down Jess's offer of going down to the lake. He found himself distancing himself from Jess more and more; she didn't need him now that she had Mary.

Monday rolled along, and as Draco walked down the stairs of his dormitory, the first thing he noticed was the huge crowd around the noticeboard. He made his way over, and reeled back in shock.

_BY ORDER OF THE HIGH INQUISTOR OF HOGWARTS_

_All student organizations, societies, teams, groups and clubs are henceforth disbanded._

_An organization, society, team, group, or club is hereby defined as a regular meeting of three of more students._

_Permission to re-form may be sought from the High Inquisitor (Professor Umbridge)._

_No student organization, society, team, group or club may exist without the knowledge and approval of the High Inquisitor._

_Any student found to have formed, or to belong to, an organization, society, team, group or club that has not been approved by the High Inquisitor will be expelled._

_The above is in accordance with Educational Decree Number Twenty-four._

_Signed: Dolores Jane Umbridge, High Inquistor_

Draco turned and sprinted out of the Common Room and headed straight for the Great Hall. He had to see the Golden Trio. He soon spotted them, and noticed that Neville, Dean, Fred, George and Ginny were already upon them. Ginny disappeared, probably to ward off the oncoming Ravenclaws and Smith.

"What the bloody hell is going on?" Draco whispered into Harry's ear. "How did she find out?"

"We're not sure," Harry replied. "Where were you?"

"Dumbledore wanted me."

"Harry! _Ron!_"

Angelina Johnson was frantically coming towards them.

"It's OK. We're still going to—" Harry began.

"You realize she's including Quidditch in this? We have to go and ask permission to re-form the Gryffindor team!"

_"What?"_ Harry gaped.

"No way," Ron backed up.

"You read the sign, it mentions teams too! So listen, Harry … I am saying this for the last time … please, _please_ don't lose your temper with Umbridge or she might not let us play anymore!"

"He won't," Draco butted in before Harry he could respond. "And I'm willing to bet that Umbrigdge will want me kicked off of the team before she allows Slytherin to regroup, and I just might go resign now."

Harry stared at Draco wide eyed as Angelina walked off. He passed Draco a piece of toast before the quartet walked off to History of Magic. "But you love Quidditch!"

"I know, but I don't like dealing with Crabbe trying to kill me at every chance. I'm gonna go talk to Snape and Montague and resign now. I'll be back in a moment," Draco told them, and went over to the Slytherin table.

He came back in time for Harry to leave History of Magic with Hedwig. "She's injured!" Harry explained. "She randomly showed up to class, and just look at her wings!"

"Go take her to Grubbly-Plank. I'm gonna go inside," Draco said. "Snape refused to listen to me when I said I wanted to resign, so I had to go to Umbridge." Harry gave him a sympathetic stare as he hurried off.

_So the owl is more important than me? Great. Wonderful. That is the most fantastic news ever._ Draco snuck into the back of the room and sidled next to Ron and Hermione.

Pretty soon after he went inside, it was time for class to end. Hermione snuck her notes into his bag, and he nodded gratefully after her.

"Is Hedwig okay?" Hermione asked as soon as Harry showed up.

"Where did you take her?" Ron asked.

"To Grubbly-Plank. And I met McGonagall … listen—"

"Did she tell you that communications are being watched?" Draco interrupted.

"Uh, yeah. How did you—"

"Oh, think about it, Harry. Of course they're going to; they want to find a way to out you," Draco responded. "Now come on, I don't want to hear the gloating."

"What gloating?" Ron inquired as Nott, Crabbe, and Goyle came into view.

"Umbridge gave the Slytherin team permission as soon as Malfoy left the team. And now that I'm the new Seeker—"

Harry had to hold Draco back as he lunged forward. "Come on, he's doing this to get on your nerves. Come on, let's go to Potions." Draco shrugged him off and stalked forward, ignoring Harry's stare after him.

Naturally, this was the day that Umbridge was watching on Snape's class. Draco chose to throw himself into his favorite class, and put all his frustrations into the Strengthening Solution, and he decided to go to the Hospital Wing. When asked what for, he said headache and he just needed to rest it out.

Madam Pomfrey told him to just go back to his dormitory and rest up, so he did. Once he was entirely sure he was alone, he just started to cry. He cried about losing his family—shockingly enough—the possibility of losing Harry, losing his freedom if what Dumbledore said was true, and the frustrations of—as selfish as it was—losing Slytherin Quidditch. He cried about the fear of everything that was coming on top of him.

He could only pray that he wouldn't lose Harry as soon as Dumbledore seemed to think he would. And now he worried he was losing Harry as a friend. He was probably being irrational, but Harry wouldn't even look at him that morning when Draco tried to find out about the Defence group. Not even when asking where he was!

_Stop being paranoid about this_, he tried to reason with himself. _Harry was preoccupied with everyone else. He's famous. You're not. Well, you are, but for the wrong reasons. Now just calm down. Everything is going to be fine. Umbridge won't find out about the Defence meetings, and you and Harry can be as close as ever. Now just breathe. Breathe, and everything will be just fine._

Draco didn't go to classes the next day, but went afterwards, and found out that Trelawney had been put on probation, which did not surprise him at all, and he was told (by Hermione, not Harry, he noticed) that the first meeting was to take place that night, and to meet them outside the Gryffindor Common Room at half past seven. He did so, and stared at the parchment in their hands. "What is that?" he inquired.

"It's the Marauder's Map. It shows where everyone walking the halls and in classrooms are. It just doesn't seem to protrude onto dormitories," explained Ron as Harry intently stared down at it. Draco made a "hm" noise, and the quartet made their way to wherever this place was. They walked three times in front of a wall, and Draco stared down at the floor intently. _Give us a place where we can practice our Defense. We need this so badly…_

"Harry!" Hermione exclaimed after the third walk. The other three looked up to see a door, and Draco automatically raced forward and opened it—and gave a cry of surprise as he walked in.

It was perfect. There were cushions, books for Hermione, and there was more than enough room for twenty-eight people. He settled down onto a cushion, and unknowingly slid into sleep, waking up when Neville nudged him awake and said, "We're practicing the Disarming Charm. Could you partner with me? No one else but Harry will, and since he's the teacher of Dumbledore's Army—"

"'Course I will, Neville," Draco interrupted as he sat up and stretched. "Now then, you want to try first?"

Neville was very poor at the charm, sadly; Draco could disarm him quite easily, but Neville struggled. As Harry blew his whistle to signal the end of the lesson, Draco murmured into Neville's ear, "Come here tomorrow night, we can practice more." Neville looked at him gratefully.

"Well, that was pretty good, but we're overrun, we'd better leave it here. Same time, same place next week?" Harry offered.

"Sooner!" Dean Thomas encouraged.

Angelina Johnson, however, butted in, "The Quidditch season's about to start, we need team practices too!"

"Let's say next Wednesday night, then," Harry offered, "we can decide on additional meetings then. Come on, we'd better get going."

As everyone left, Draco watched Harry carefully let them go. Harry still hadn't looked at him for the entirety of the day, and he was starting to wonder whether his paranoia was correct or not.

"That was really, really good, Harry," Hermione gushed once the four of them were the sole ones left.

"Yeah, it was!" Ron agreed as they left. "Did you see me disarm Hermione, Harry?"

"Only once. I got you loads more than your got me—"

"I did not get you once, I got you at least three times—"

"Well, if you're counting the one where you tripped over your own feet and knocked the wand out of my hand—"

Draco left them there, but he stayed back and watched their backs grow smaller and smaller, but he couldn't forget the look of wonder on Harry's face, and he automatically knew it wasn't because of him, but that blasted Cho Chang.


End file.
